The Pendulum Family
by Hollow Mashiro
Summary: We live, we fight, and sometimes we find family where we least expect it. Or, the Vizards find themselves adopting, or maybe it's them who have been adopted. (In which the Vizards take in the Kurosaki kids.)
1. Death and Rebirth

IMPORTANT! This is an AU where Yhwach doesn't exist, so the main big bad will be Aizen, and how Ichigo's powers will work will be a little different, too, but he'll still have all his powers, don't worry. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

It was wet, and it was cold, and it was hard to breathe. Those sensations were the first things Ichigo noticed while he awoke. As he became more aware, he gradually associated those feelings with rain and with a heavy weight that was laying on top of him. He struggled weakly out from under whatever was on top of him, enough that only his legs were covered and so he could breathe more easily.

Then memory returned. Ichigo wondered what had happened to the girl by the river he'd seen about to jump. And kaa-san had run after him, hadn't she?

Laying on the ground, eyes closed, wouldn't answer any of his questions. He scrunched up his nose, rubbed at his watery face, and opened his eyes.

He first saw that the weight that was covering his legs was a body. An unmistakably dead body, judging by the hole that had been torn through the back. Ichigo quivered and gasped as he recognized his kaa-san's distinctive hair and the raincoat she'd been wearing. He stared at her body, uncomprehending for at least a minute, unable to connect the lively, loving woman his kaa-san had been with the corpse in front of him.

Then he saw his tou-san. His tou-san, who kept the family entertained with his antics. His tou-san, who took care of everyone who came to their clinic. His tou-san, who had decided to accompany him and his kaa-san to his karate lesson that day to cheer him on, leaving the twins with a babysitter. His tou-san, who had been rent almost in two, bloodstained eyes staring at nothing.

Ichigo screamed.

* * *

 _One month later_

Kisuke examined the morose child in front of him, wondering about what he could do. This was the fifth time in the past month the local police had caught Ichigo lingering by the river alone, as if searching for his parents.

Kisuke had a lot of regrets. Being too slow to save the Kurosaki parents from the Hollow was only the newest one.

He'd taken in Isshin's children so that they wouldn't be shuffled away by the system, their spiritual talents leaving them vulnerable. He owed that much to Isshin and Masaki, after all. Ishida Ryuuken had come around the shop once, at the beginning, to make sure that Kisuke would take care of his nieces and nephew. Kisuke reassured him that the children's physical needs were being more than met and that all their belongings had been moved into the Shoten, the twins sharing a room stuffed with plush toys and Ichigo right next door, and Ryuuken, satisfied that the children would be cared for, hadn't visited since.

Unfortunately, Ichigo had been shell-shocked for his entire stay at the Urahara Shoten, and his sisters hadn't been much better, both girls crying often and loudly. The children vaguely knew Urahara Kisuke as a friend of the family but not much more than that, and they were wary of going to him with their emotional trauma. Kisuke had problems getting Ichigo to go to school, and Ichigo had dropped out of karate entirely, too depressed to continue the extracurricular activity.

Kisuke wasn't stupid. He knew, from his observations, that Ichigo blamed himself for his parents' deaths. He had no idea how to even begin to address it, though, because it would likely lead to an explanation of what had _really_ happened to Isshin and Masaki Kurosaki, and one of the few wishes they had made abundantly clear before their death was that they didn't want their children knowledgeable about the spirit world until their children had died a natural death, or at least until they were older and could handle themselves.

Not that that had gone too well. Ichigo and Karin had full sight, and Yuzu could sense more often than not when ghosts were around. Considering their parents, their high amount of reiatsu (for Humans, at least) made sense, which led to difficulties in keeping the truth from the children, especially since Kisuke ran a shop that specifically catered to the dead, the candy shop for the living only being a facade. He and Tessai had to be careful to stay in gigai whenever the Kurosaki kids might be around, plus they had to lay down concealing kido around certain areas of the shop that were dangerous for humans or were otherwise connected with the spirit world.

Yoruichi would laugh at him if she were aware of his current problems, had she been around. But who knew where she'd wandered off to this time?

* * *

"Yo, Kisuke. How've ya been?"

Kisuke flipped his fan open as he observed the two Vizard in front of him, who were standing in the middle of the open shop part of the store. Hirako Shinji and Otoribashi Rose stood in front of him, the former sporting his normal Cheshire cat grin and the latter looking as fashionable as always. They appeared no different from the last time he'd seen them.

"Hello, Shinji, Rose," Kisuke greeted, nodding. "I haven't heard from you in over a decade. What brings you here?"

"Our old gigai have worn out," Shinji grimaced. "It's about time for some new ones. We do need ta be able ta go buy food, ya know, and it's about time ta find a new warehouse, too. We've trashed the old one."

"Hmm," said Kisuke. "Well, give me a moment to go back and review your specs. The old ones should still work."

He turned to go to one of the back storerooms of the Shoten. "Do try not to cause any trouble why you're here," Kisuke called back.

Shinji's laughter followed him straight to the back of the Shoten.

* * *

"Man, what's takin' him so long?" Shinji complained, slouching and examining the candy Kisuke had on display with disinterest. "Well, whatever. I'm gonna go have a look around."

Rose shook his head but didn't move to stop him, so Shinji sauntered out of the main display room and headed back to where he knew the Shoten's kitchen was. He wanted to see how much had changed since the last time he'd been here. He thought he'd be alone as he explored a house he hadn't seen for decades.

He was wrong.

When he entered the kitchen, he noticed a small, muted, Human reiatsu signature by the table. Curious, he stepped forward quietly.

He first saw the mop of bright orange hair and wondered what combination of genes would allow for such a bright color. Then he saw the boy's eyes, and he stilled.

Those were dead eyes.

Shinji stared intently at the boy. Maybe it was a bit creepy, but it wasn't like the Human could see him without a gigai, anyway.

He wondered what had put that desolate look on a face so young – likely less than a decade old, since the boy was Human. He'd seen people look like that before, Shinigami who had lost everything and had broken because of it. It wasn't the devastation that caught his interest; it was that such a young kid could have a look like that.

Besides, the fact that the boy was in Kisuke's house spoke volumes. The shopkeeper wasn't the best with kids, so there was probably something interesting about the boy's origins. If Kisuke felt like he owed someone, he would take whatever steps necessary to repay the debt. It was that feeling of responsibility that had led the exiled captain to work tirelessly in an attempt to find a solution to the Vizards' problem. Shinji wondered what kind of debt someone like Kisuke would owe this kid.

Then he realized that the kid looked very much like a Shiba. Though that couldn't be the case, because the Shibas were a clan in the Soul Society, and this kid was very much Human…

The boy stirred, coming out of whatever bleak thoughts had kept him occupied. He looked straight at Shinji – _at_ , not through – and said, frowning, "What are you looking at?"

"…Ya can see me?" Shinji said with surprise. What kind of Human could interact with the spirit world?

"Oh, you're dead, then," the boy said dismissively, glancing away and curling in on himself.

Shinji wasn't quite done with the kid, though. Maybe it was his old instincts as a captain whose job it was to look after others, or maybe he just couldn't stand seeing such an expression on a face so young. "Oi, what's with that miserable look on your face?"

The kid glared at him defiantly – finally, some spirit! – before the energy drained. "What do you care?" he said grouchily.

Shinji shook his head. He should probably just leave the kid alone; it wasn't any of his business, and it wasn't like he truly cared for the kid beyond cheering him up. But he was curious and stubborn, and he wasn't giving up that easily. "Someone like ya should be out playin' in the sun, not sulkin' in here. What gives?"

Whatever defiant embers the boy harbored burnt out completely as he slumped in the chair, having been reminded of whatever he'd been ruminating about before Shinji stepped in. "My parents are dead and it's all my fault," he mumbled pathetically. Shinji was surprised he'd gotten an answer; the kid didn't seem like the type to want to spill his sob story to every random person on the street. Maybe it was because they were in the kid's home?

"Oh," Shinji said, mind racing. If what the kid was saying was truly the entire story, he'd eat his tie. There was no way someone like Kisuke would take in a kid like this if his parents' deaths had just been an accident on the kid's part. He'd have to grill Kisuke about it when the shopkeeper showed up again.

But right now, he had to console the boy before he burst out crying. Shinji had brought this on himself by asking, after all. He moved forward in a nonthreatening manner and patted the boy comfortingly on the back.

"Buck up," he said, not unkindly. "Your parents wouldn't want ya mopin' inside all day."

The boy looked up at him sharply and appeared as though he was about to protest, but then he shut his mouth and turned contemplative. Shinji was glad the kid was the type that could take a little bit of tough love without breaking down, especially on a topic as sensitive as this.

"I guess…" the boy finally said, twining his fingers. "Kaa-san and tou-san would be sad if they could see me." His lips quivered like he was about to cry, but he stubbornly refused to let the tears fall. Shinji was a little impressed by the kid's control.

Shinji saw the kid moving but did nothing to stop him as he lunged forward and hugged Shinji around the waist. Shinji rolled his eyes but endured the affection with good grace.

When the kid glanced up at him again, there was a sheen of tears in his eyes, but there was a new, determined look that hadn't been there before. "Thank you, um…"

"Name's Shinji. Nice ta meet ya," Shinji said, patting the boy on the back again before gently extricating himself from the hug. The boy stepped back with a flush, evidently a little embarrassed by hugging someone he barely knew.

"Shinji-san, then," he said. "I'm Ichigo. You're pretty nice for a dead guy."

Shinji snorted. Nice was not the greatest way to describe him. Better adjectives were "irritating" and "intimidating." "I ain't nice, kid. Just couldn't stand seein' your pathetic face."

Ichigo scowled. For some reason, the expression looked natural on his face, better than the depressed one had. "Okay, now you're just being annoying. Go away."

Shinji grinned widely. "Yeah. See ya around, kid." He'd likely never see Ichigo again.

* * *

Shinji returned to the front of the store, where Rose was still patiently waiting. Kisuke had joined the other Vizard and looked resigned to Shinji's snooping.

"Ya finally get those specs?" Shinji asked unrepentantly.

Kisuke nodded. "Everything looks to be in order. I'll have the gigai ready for you in about a week. Come back then to pick them up."

"Thanks, Kisuke. …So what's the deal with the kid ya took in? A kid that young shouldn't have a look like that on his face," Shinji said unsubtly.

"Ah, you met Ichigo, I assume? His sisters are napping right now."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Interestin' kid, for a Human. He could see me. And said he killed his own parents. What's the story behind that?"

Kisuke winced and whipped out his fan, hiding his face. A touchy subject, then. "His parents were good friends of mine." Which was Kisuke for 'his parents were involved with the spiritual world and Shinigami.' "A Hollow killed them."

Shinji stared. "In what way is that the kid's fault? Did he attract the Hollow or somethin'?"

"From what I understand, the Hollow lured Ichigo, and his parents protected him at the cost of their lives. I could only guess what had happened, as I only arrived in time to chase the Hollow off," Kisuke said, his hat shadowing his eyes.

Shinji frowned. "So it's the Hollow's fault his parents are dead, not his. Why does he blame himself then?"

Kisuke looked unhappy for a moment. "His parents wanted their children to be uninvolved with the spirit world. I am following their wishes despite my own misgivings."

"So you'd let a little kid like that drown in guilt instead?" Shinji said disapprovingly. "Seems a little cruel, don't ya think?"

"I've taken him in, but he's not my offspring, so it's really not my place to make decisions like that," Kisuke said, resigned.

Shinji sighed. "Well, it's not _my_ place ta intervene. Consider that it'll be better for him in the long run, though, if ya tell him." Shinji knew that the shopkeeper would take his advice seriously. Shinji was still Kisuke's senior, despite that they'd all been exiled and former rank didn't really matter anymore.

Kisuke nodded gravely and tugged at his hat. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Right. See ya 'round," Shinji said, holding up his hand in farewell and strolling out of the shop with a quiet Rose on his heels. The two Vizards were about halfway home before Rose broke the silence.

"It's not really like you to take an interest in a stranger, especially a child," Rose said thoughtfully.

Shinji hummed. "Eh, if ya saw the kid, ya'd understand. Couldn't just leave him ta be miserable."

"Still, it's strange that you'd look after that boy," Rose said.

"Well, I have all of ya ta watch out for, and you're all worse than any kid," Shinji snarked without too much heat, acknowledging his unspoken but universally recognized role as leader of the Vizards. "Takes nothing out of my day ta help out someone else." Shinji smirked. "Just don't tell Hiyori."

Rose rolled his eyes and acquiesced.

Of course, the minute Hiyori laid eyes on the duo, she knew something had happened, and she was stubborn enough to weasel the story out of even a reluctant Shinji.

* * *

Kisuke wasn't sure what Shinji had said to Ichigo, but whatever it was, it made a huge improvement in Ichigo's mental health. He was going to school diligently and had even picked karate back up as a hobby. He was also taking deliberate care of his sisters and acting as parental as possible to them. Yuzu relished the attention, while Karin was becoming a little more standoffish, determined to not burden her brother or sister with her problems. It was one way to cope with how her life had been upended, at least. Tessai took care of most of the housekeeping and cooking for the Shoten, but Yuzu, even at the young age of five, was insisting on learning how to cook and otherwise be useful in the household – her way of connecting with her mother.

Kisuke was glad that the children seemed to be recovering. Staging an intervention for them would have no doubt gone horribly wrong, but Shinji had surprisingly appeared to handle the problem quite neatly. (Though perhaps he shouldn't have been as shocked. Shinji had a well-hidden but strong kind streak, and he'd truly cared for his subordinates when he'd been a captain, save for Aizen.)

"Urahara-san?" came a small voice from somewhere below him. Kisuke looked down and saw Yuzu standing next to him, one small fist curled in his coat. "Is there anything I can do to help with the shop?"

Kisuke knelt so he was looking her in the eye and patted her on the head. "You're a kind girl for offering to help. Thank you. But I can handle the shop okay by myself. You shouldn't have to worry about adult things like that."

Yuzu looked downcast but quickly brightened. "Okay! I'll ask Tessai if there are any chores to do!"

Kisuke shook his head. Weren't kids supposed to want to dodge chores? Tessai would likely set Yuzu up with something that wasn't too dangerous, like sweeping, while the former Kido Corps captain supervised.

Well, it wasn't his business how the kids wanted to spend their time, so long as they weren't being delinquents. He pointed Yuzu in Tessai's direction and returned to minding the shop.

* * *

A week later saw Shinji accompanied by Hiyori, this time, back at the Urahara Shoten. Hiyori tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her old captain to appear, sandal already in hand. Shinji was sure that the shopkeeper was dawdling because he'd felt Hiyori's distinctive agitated reiatsu signature.

"Kisuke! Get your ass out here!" Hiyori roared, her voice carrying through the shop.

Her shout provoked a person into appearing. It wasn't Kisuke, though; it was Ichigo, who skidded on his socks into view.

"Who are you?" Ichigo demanded, glaring. "Can't you see the shop is closed right now? Get out!"

"Move it, you brat!" Hiyori said, stepping up and grabbing Ichigo by the hair. "I'm looking for a kid named Ichigo!" Ichigo bristled and attempted to bat her hand away, but Hiyori's grip was not to be denied.

"That's him, Hiyori," Shinji sighed. "Stop pickin' on the poor kid."

Hiyori blinked once, examined Ichigo more closely, then bodily picked him up and threw him at Shinji, who caught him with a squawk. Shinji set Ichigo, who was making angry pterodactyl noises, down on the ground before the kid could get any ideas and attempt to attack him. (Not that a mere Human would be able to land a single hit on a former captain, of course, but it was the intent that mattered.)

 _Then_ Kisuke appeared, apparently ruffled by his former lieutenant's treatment of his ward. "Hey now, Hiyori, you can't go around assaulting my charge—"

"Sorry for not treating him like he's made of glass!" Hiyori snapped. She whirled around. "Shinji! Do like we discussed! I'll keep him distracted." Then she tackled Kisuke to the ground, sandal already poised to attack.

Shinji sighed again and resigned himself to following through with Hiyori's scatterbrained plan. Really, it would be a better idea to just tell the kid in the shop and steamroller over Kisuke, but Hiyori liked complicating things. Or, rather, making things more violent and annoying for her former captain.

"Sorry about this," he apologized to Ichigo before he tucked the boy under his arm without so much as a by-your-leave and sprinted from the shop.

Ichigo shrieked and began struggling. "Okay, I thought you were okay for a dead guy, so let go of me!"

Instead of directly answering, Shinji said, "Hold on tight, kid." And then he leapt straight into the air, soaring over the three- and four-story buildings and forming a platform of reishi beneath his feet about a hundred feet in the air.

"You can fly?!" Ichigo squeaked in astonishment, clutching at Shinji's shirt like a lifeline. (Then again, it probably was, because if Shinji dropped Ichigo, there was no way the kid would survive the fall with a Human body.) "Put me down! On the ground."

Once again, Shinji ignored Ichigo's protests. "I can tell ya what really happened to your parents," he said, and Ichigo immediately went stock-still, eyes wide and breath audibly stuttering in shock.

"But I told you," Ichigo whispered. "It was my fault. I ran after a girl, and when I woke up, tou-san and kaa-san were dead—"

"Was it your fault? Perhaps, perhaps not. Were _you_ the one ta kill your parents with your own hands? Don't be so ridiculous," Shinji scoffed. "Come on, kid. I want ta show ya something."

Ichigo settled in Shinji's hold, still grasping his shirt tightly. "Tell me," he demanded breathlessly.

"I will," Shinji said as he jumped from reishi platform to reishi platform, tracking the nearest Hollow and careful to keep his reiatsu tightly controlled so that the patrolling Shinigami didn't notice him. (Because with his luck, the Shinigami would be someone who knew him from a century ago, and then there would be a whole shitstorm to deal with.)

Shinji landed on an office building downtown and crouched behind a decorative stone outcropping, motioning for Ichigo to do the same. Shinji had seen more than his fair share of Hollows, of course, but Ichigo didn't know what they were, and he was gratified with a stunned gasp from the boy.

"What _is_ that?" Ichigo murmured in horror, instinctually keeping his voice low to keep from attracting the monster's attention.

"That, Ichigo, is a Hollow. A dead spirit that has lost itself to rage or guilt or pain and wants ta destroy and devour," Shinji introduced. Ichigo gripped the outcropping tightly, starting to deduce where the conversation was going. He was a smart kid.

The Hollow was nothing special. It looked like a skunk, boasting a spiky tail and white zigzag patterns all over its plum-colored body. It was attempting to spray the local Shinigami, who wore the usual black shihakusho and wielded the normal zanpakuto, with an acid that smelled foul, even from the distance Shinji and Ichigo were at.

"Who's that fighting it?" Ichigo asked, delaying the undoubtedly painful conversation about his parents.

"That's a Shinigami," Shinji said darkly, thinking of the bad blood between the Vizards and the Gotei 13. "Their job is to fight and kill Hollows."

The two watched from the rooftop as the Shinigami barely dodged out of the way of an acid spray, leaving a ragged hole in his shihakusho. But the Shinigami quickly rallied after that and sliced the Hollow's mask in two, and the Hollow disappeared with an echoing cry. Shinji waited until the Shinigami was gone before turning to Ichigo, who looked as if his whole world had been turned upside-down. (Then again, learning that Plus souls – or ghosts, as Ichigo probably called them – weren't the only beings that made up the spiritual world was probably a shock.)

"So, you're wonderin' what this has ta do with ya and your parents," Shinji began. "You've probably already figured it out, but your parents were killed by a Hollow." Ichigo nodded, looking both devastated and furious. "One lured ya and got your parents instead."

"A Hollow killed my parents… but it's still my fault," Ichigo said, his voice sounding broken. "If I hadn't been lured, if I hadn't gone after that girl, if I had realized she was dead—"

The kid really was grown up for his age, though Shinji supposed his parents' deaths would mature him rapidly. Instead of blaming an outside force, like the Shinigami for not being fast enough to save his parents from the Hollow (though Shinji was certain that that thought had crossed Ichigo's mind), he blamed the correct party – the Hollow – for killing his parents.

Problem was, he was also blaming himself for not being able to see that the lure, the girl, had been a part of the spirit world.

"Listen, ya can't go blamin' yourself when there's another party that instigated the entire thing," Shinji said, drawing on centuries of experience and his own ordeal with his Hollowfication and exile. "And if your parents were here, I'm sure they wouldn't blame ya for what happened." Now Shinji was talking out of his ass; he had no idea what the kid's parents had been like. But Ichigo seemed to genuinely love them, so that at least hinted that his parents had tried to raise him well… Whatever. Shinji didn't really care.

Ichigo seemed to be struggling with Shinji's words. But between what Shinji had said now and what he'd said when he'd first met the kid, he was sure that Ichigo would recover from the trauma of losing his parents.

Shinji was surprised, then, when Ichigo looked straight into his eyes and declared, "I'm going to be strong enough to protect my sisters! I _will_ learn to differentiate between the living and the dead! And one day, I'll be strong enough to take on Hollows!"

Shinji was oddly impressed by the kid's resolve. It took a certain character to face monsters head-on without training. Reckless, yes, but also brave and unwilling to back down. "Now, don't do anythin' rash or go dyin'. You've got a long life left to live. Don't go rushin' ta take on enemies you're not ready for."

Ichigo nodded, but Shinji could tell that the boy wasn't really listening. Shinji rolled his eyes at the kid's stubbornness. The kid would temper that obstinacy with experience someday, and Kisuke would look after him in the meantime. "C'mon. Let's get you back home."

They flew in silence for a while. Then, Ichigo asked astutely, "How come you're the one telling me all this?"

Shinji coughed. "Well, your parents didn't want ya aware of any of this – probably thought ya'd be safer or something. But my friend and I thought ya deserved ta know, since we've had our own fair share of Hollows ruining our lives." Technically, the Vizards' lives had been ruined by Aizen and their inner Hollows, but this was close enough to the truth. The Vizards were a paranoid lot, but Kisuke's support of the kid spoke for a lot, and besides, Shinji sympathized with him. Hiyori had been the one to push the issue, though; for all that she was loud and obnoxious, she had a well-hidden soft spot for kids and a sore spot for departing parent figures. Plus, Hiyori was always up for anything that could annoy or otherwise inconvenience her old captain, like the hellion she was.

Hiyori and a displeased Kisuke were waiting for them when they got back to the Shoten. Shinji landed and gently set Ichigo down on the dusty ground.

"Ichigo, would you go find your sisters? They were looking for you earlier," Kisuke said tightly. The kid nodded, eyeing Kisuke warily, before darting into the shop to find the sisters that Shinji had vaguely sensed but still hadn't laid eyes on.

"He deserved ta know," Shinji started the instant Ichigo was out of sight.

"Whether he should know or not should not have been any of your concern," Kisuke said sharply. "It's not like you to intervene in a family matter that's none of your business."

" _You_ took him and his sisters in, and anything that affects ya affects us, much as I loathe ta admit it," Shinji said. "Havin' some kids livin' at your place unaware of the spirit world sounds like a disaster in the makin'." Anything that affected Kisuke would eventually influence the Vizards. That meant that Ichigo and his sisters would be indirectly involved with the Vizards, so it wasn't as if they didn't have a marked interest in the children's well-being, insofar as they affected Kisuke.

"But that's strange too," Kisuke pointed out. "You're the nosy kind, but you're not the type to intervene for the sake of someone you barely know, even if it benefitted you."

"He can't help out a kid in need now?" Hiyori muttered antagonistically, the fire that had been raging in her eyes when they'd arrived dimmed to a smolder. Kisuke had probably put her in her place while Shinji had been gone. For all that Kisuke was normally a pushover when it came to his foul-tempered former lieutenant, he knew when to put his foot down when she went too far, usually in a display of force that overwhelmed Hiyori, who respected strength. Honestly, she probably would have fit in the Eleventh Division better than in the Twelfth.

"Maybe I liked him. Maybe I couldn't stand the look on his face. Maybe I was bored. Maybe you're overthinking things. Pick one and go with it," Shinji drawled, utterly unrepentant. "Look, what's done is done. Ya can't change that. Now, do ya have those gigai ready for us or not?"

Kisuke blinked, as if he had honestly forgotten about the gigai, before turning to walk back into the shop. "Right. Yes, they're ready. I'll go retrieve them for you." And really, that would be the end of that. The Vizards and Kisuke were too connected to each other, personally and impersonally, for one to just cut the other loose, even if the other acted up. Although…

"…Ya know, if ya really wanted ta keep us from leaving the shop, ya could have just engaged the kido wards ya had Tessai set up," Shinji noticed astutely. Kisuke pressed his lips together but said nothing, so he forged on. "Ya couldn't tell the kids what happened because of your promise ta their parents. But if someone else were ta do it… Well, ya wouldn't be breaking your promise, would ya?"

Kisuke tugged at his hat. "…It's pointless to make suppositions like that." That Kisuke wasn't denying the accusation spoke volumes to the truth that Shinji had hit upon. So perhaps Shinji and Hiyori had really done Kisuke a favor by kidnapping Ichigo and telling him the truth. Kisuke was the type to find a way around contracts he didn't like, after all. Then Kisuke disappeared back into the shop, expecting Shinji and Hiyori to follow.

Shinji took the time to study Hiyori more closely. She looked unharmed, if a bit sullen. She was also muttering under her breath, likely curses directed at Kisuke. She met his eyes and looked away in either embarrassment or shame. She wouldn't accept any mother henning from Shinji, so he stepped around her and entered the shop. He heard Hiyori following him silently.

Once his eyes had adjusted to the lighting change, Shinji saw Kisuke gesturing to the huge box that was sitting in the store that was big enough to hold eight adult-sized bodies in it.

"Here they are. Will you have any problems transporting them?"

Shinji rolled his eyes. "We're not that pathetic, thanks. I trust you've put a kido on it that hides it from Humans?"

"Of course."

Shinji felt another pair of eyes on him and turned to see Ichigo skulking by the doorway to the house. Shinji smiled at the kid, who nodded at him seriously before disappearing into the house again.

This time, Shinji was pretty sure he'd see Ichigo again, if only because the kid lived at Kisuke's place. He doubted they'd ever really get to know each other though.

* * *

Ichigo's mind was racing as he catalogued the day's revelations. First, he wasn't as responsible for his parents' deaths as he first thought. (He was still partially guilty for running into the Hollow's trap, but the one who had actually killed his parents was a monster.) Secondly, spiritual monsters called Hollows existed and there were people whose job it was to kill said monsters. People who had failed in their duty to protect Ichigo's parents. Ichigo didn't blame them, though. They'd probably been off protecting someone else, or maybe they just hadn't gotten to the Kurosakis in time. Although he didn't condemn them, Ichigo sure didn't trust these Shinigami. They'd already failed once, after all; what if they couldn't protect Ichigo's sisters when he really needed them to?

He swore that he'd one day find the Hollow that killed his parents and put it down. But his whole world wouldn't be his revenge; he still had Yuzu and Karin to look after, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to them because of his negligence.

He found Yuzu and Karin playing together in their room. They looked up when he entered and immediately brightened.

"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu said brightly. "Where were you earlier? We couldn't find you in the Shoten!"

"I saw Shinji again," Ichigo worded carefully. He'd told his sisters about the encounter with the dead man in the kitchen, and how he'd restored Ichigo's drive and will. "He took me to see something."

Perhaps sensing Ichigo's seriousness, Yuzu calmed (Karin was already quiet). "Did something happen?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yes. He told me…" Ichigo stopped for a second, wondering if he was doing the right thing. Wouldn't his sisters sleep easier at night by not knowing there were literal monsters out there? But they deserved to know. They knew he'd been blaming himself for their parents' deaths (but they didn't blame him at all, the little angels), and they'd been strongly affected by tou-san's and kaa-san's deaths like he had. Plus, if they knew about Hollows, they'd be more careful with things from the spirit world, and they'd know to run the other way if they saw one.

"He found out how tou-san and kaa-san died," Ichigo finally finished. His sisters immediately stilled, lasering in on him. Yuzu's bottom lip trembled.

"Wasn't it some kind of accident?" Karin forged ahead, determinedly not letting the sore subject upset her.

Ichigo shook his head. "No. You know how ghosts are real?" The girls nodded. "Well, there are bad ghosts out there that look like monsters. They're called Hollows. One of them killed kaa-san and tou-san."

Yuzu started crying, but she admirably tried to control her sobs. Karin looked shaken and scared. "Will one of those monsters get us too?"

"Of course not!" Ichigo said, moving to hug his sisters, who cuddled into his embrace and accepted all the comfort and affection he had to give. "There are superheroes out there called Shinigami who kill Hollows. And someday, I'll be strong enough to beat them, too."

"I want to know how to beat them, too!" Karin insisted, her eyes wet but stubbornly refusing to let the tears fall. "I won't let what happened to tou-san and kaa-san happen to me or Yuzu!"

"Stay with us for a while, Ichi-nii?" Yuzu sniffed, clinging to Ichigo.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, sounding a little wrecked himself. Their parents' deaths were still a painful wound in each surviving Kurosaki's heart. The three Kurosaki siblings stayed together for as long as it took for their emotions to calm. The two girls got snot and salt water all over Ichigo's shirt – Karin allowing herself one more good cry before she stopped worrying her siblings – but Ichigo didn't mind.

The Kurosaki siblings were in no way healed. But by knowing how their parents had been killed, by gaining even that little bit of closure, they could allow themselves to look forward to the future instead of remaining stuck on what they'd lost.

* * *

"Urahara-san?"

Kisuke glanced down to see all three Kurosaki children looking up at him in various states of disarray, having recently been crying. He grimaced. Ichigo must have told his sisters what had happened to Isshin and Masaki. Not the wisest choice, considering how easily small children were terrified by monsters, but perhaps the correct one.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked, kneeling so he could properly look the children in the eye.

Ichigo jutted his chin forward determinedly before he blurted. "I wanna learn how tell apart the living and dead, and also how to fight Hollows!"

"I do too!" Karin piped up.

"I want to protect my family!" Yuzu announced.

Kisuke pinched the bridge of his nose. Of course they'd want to be more involved in the spirit world instead of vowing to stay away from it or even being terrified of it. They were bullheaded kids, that was for sure, but considering who their parents had been, perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise. Shibas were known for their stubbornness.

He had two options: he could start teaching them to control their budding reiatsu, or he could forbid them from interacting with the spirit world. The chances of the children listening to him if he chose the latter would likely be slim to none, and they'd probably just be in more danger. But training them would attract unwanted attention when they were out of the shop, at least until they could control their nascent powers. What would their parents have done? Had the kids been older, they likely would have been left to their own devices with a helping hand in case they needed assistance, but younger children needed much more guidance than that.

Isshin and Masaki would not have wanted their children to be involved with the spirit world so young, but even considering their wishes, their children were already abnormal for Humans. There was no denying that their talents would only get stronger as they aged. They'd need training eventually. But to start now?

Ichigo and Karin would need to control their reiatsu to avoid attracting Hollows while they were out of the shop (though, admittedly, the former would be out more with school and karate). And Yuzu couldn't even see spirits at the moment, so she'd need training to increase her reiatsu. His usual, quick, dangerous methods of training wouldn't do in this situation. He'd likely have to poach from half-remembered lessons from the Academy. He'd teach the twins control – and _only_ control – until they got older (they probably wouldn't be able to handle anything else at the age they were right now), but Ichigo, he could start teaching kido as soon as he learned reiatsu control. Normally, a spiritually aware Human would be unable to learn kido, but since Ichigo was the son of a Shinigami, he'd have his own set of fledgling Shinigami powers to use (as soon as he learned to access them, of course).

He'd start training them, but he wouldn't tell them the truth about their parents until the children were older. They would already have enough on their plates with training and learning about the spirit world without knowing who their parents had really been. He'd tell them when they were older and more mature.

* * *

Spirit training was hard, Yuzu decided as she watched her brother and sister meditate. Ichigo was having an easier time of it than Karin, who would naturally have difficulties staying still in one place as a young child. Yuzu was still working on trying to see spirits, but progress was slow and frustrating.

Ichigo had learned to tell spirits apart from humans rather quickly, saying something about how they "felt different" from the living. Karin was having a little more trouble telling when their guardians were in spirit form, but she was still making good progress.

Ichigo and occasionally Karin would point out when Urahara-san was walking around in spirit form, and Yuzu would squint, attempting to see what they could. Urahara had given her a small device to "focus her energy into," and such exercise would apparently strengthen the spirit energy inside of her. She often got headaches from concentrating so hard, and she sometimes wound up crying in frustration, but it was worth it when she saw the first blurry outline of Urahara-san a couple of weeks after they started training.

Unlike Yuzu, who was strengthening her energy, Karin and Ichigo already had enough to be able to see spirits, so their exercises often involved tucking away that energy inside themselves and sensing when others were around. Urahara-san would hide their stuffed animals in the underground training room (and hadn't it been a surprise when they were shown the whole huge training room under the Shoten? Of course, they were forbidden from using it without Urahara-san's or Tessai-san's permission, and they had to be carried down the ladder, but it was still impressive, Yuzu thought). Urahara-san would add little beacons that radiated spirit energy (or reiatsu, as Urahara-san carefully taught them), and Ichigo and Karin would stumble around, searching for their toys. Karin was better at sensing, because she had less energy than Ichigo, but Ichigo could at least access his own energy and manipulate it (even if he had difficulties doing so).

Around the same time Yuzu started seeing Urahara-san without his artificial body (or gigai, as he called it), Urahara-san deemed Ichigo ready to start learning kido. Ichigo had gotten in touch with his energy (with some sort of exercise that involved diving into a dark, deep, black hole in his mind) and could manipulate it into a glowing ball that floated above the palm of his hand (a trick Tessai-san showed them). Karin still couldn't reach her own energy, but Urahara-san had cautioned her that she was very young to start learning how to control spirit energy and that she shouldn't be surprised if it took some time before she was able to use it the way Ichigo could. Karin was, of course, frustrated, and she started training with even more fervor.

To be honest, it was nice to have something to occupy her time besides chores and playing. Yuzu was learning something Important. It wouldn't help her in the Human world, but it would certainly help her in the dangerous spirit world. Yuzu and Karin still hadn't seen a Hollow, and Urahara-san had put his foot down and said no when they asked for him to catch one for them. But how could they overcome their fear if they didn't face it head-on?

Urahara-san said they were mature for their age. Yuzu thought she'd become a different person when her parents had died, but maybe this was what growing up was.

Ichigo successfully cast Bakudo #1: Sai about a month after they began training. The Kurosaki children, Urahara-san, and Tessai-san held a small party to celebrate.

* * *

"Urahara-saaaaan! Where aaaaaare yooooouuuuu?" Mashiro hollered into the Urahara Shoten. Kensei rolled his eyes at his former lieutenant's antics.

"Welcome to the Urahara Shoten! Please feel free to look around, spirit-san!" said a young female voice. Kensei couldn't find the owner of the voice until he looked down and saw a young Human girl – she couldn't have been more than five or six – squinting up at him hopefully.

Mashiro squealed. "Aww, aren't you cute! What are you doing, working for Urahara-san, hmm?"

"How can you see us? And where's Urahara?" Kensei added, because they weren't in gigai, and a normal Human shouldn't have been able to see them at all. And a kid this young really shouldn't have been manning a shop all alone.

The little girl beamed up at them. "Oh, I live here! I've been training to see and recognize spirits! And Urahara's been holed up in his workshop all day." She paused for a moment, then twisted around and called, "Tessai-san! Customers!"

As they waited the few moments for Tessai to appear, Kensei realized that the little girl was one of the kids Urahara had picked up that Shinji and Hiyori had told them about. The sister to Ichi-something.

Tessai came in from the back, beaming. "Hello, Mashiro and Kensei! Welcome! What brings you?"

"Candy!" Mashiro announced. Kensei released a long-suffering sigh that informed those who knew him that he'd been dragged along by his excitable former lieutenant.

Tessai looked a tad bit surprised. "Nothing to do with the spirit world? Well, this is a candy shop, so please feel free to look around!"

Mashiro squealed and immediately darted off, examining the bowls of candy in each isle. Kensei was content to just stand in the doorway until he noticed a curious little girl staring at him as if he held the secrets of the universe.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly (but not _too_ gruffly, because he was dealing with a kid).

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The girl squeaked. "I was just trying to see you better! I'm not very good at seeing spirits yet."

"Huh," Kensei said. He squatted. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

The girl squinted. "…Three?"

Kensei snorted. "You're getting there."

"Ah, thank you, spirit-san!" She gave a small, polite bow and wandered in Mashiro's direction to see if she needed help. Kensei shook his head and relaxed in the doorway.

There was electric blue candy in a bowl near the entrance that Kensei stared at. He'd never admit it, but it was interesting to see what Urahara was doing to stay afloat in the Human world. Plus, he'd never seen candy of such a color before. He wondered what it tasted like. Urahara wouldn't miss a small sample of candy, right? Kensei reached forward to grab some of the candy.

"Bakudo #1: Sai!"

Kensei hadn't even _noticed_ the spell caster until his arms were already bound weakly behind his back. It took almost no effort on his part to break the spell and whirl around to face his attacker, who…

…was just another kid. He was older than the girl but was still just a shrimp. Kensei fought the urge to facepalm, because no _wonder_ he hadn't sensed the kid, his reiatsu signature was so weak. Well, it was strong for a Human, but compared to a Shinigami captain, it was nothing. Behind him, Mashiro was howling with laughter, but Kensei chose to ignore that in favor of stalking forward and grabbing the kid by the hair.

"Do you think you can just get away with assaulting me, huh?" Kensei said menacingly. The kid just scowled, unimpressed by Kensei's posturing.

"Candy isn't free. You have to pay for it," the kid said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it _was_ , but Kensei wasn't about to let himself be lectured by a snot-nosed brat.

Until Mashiro pulled him off the kid, at least, still giggling. "C'mon, Kensei, lighten up! The kid's right, you know!"

Kensei growled at her, but she was long-used to his temper (just as he was long-used to her antics). She ignored him and knelt down to greet the kid. "Hi, my name's Mashiro! What's yours?"

"I'm Ichigo," the kid said, still frowning.

"Oh, Shinji told us about you!" Mashiro said. Ichigo jumped at the mention of the former captain. Shinji must have really made an impression. "It's so nice to meet you! You are just the cutest, Berry-tan!"

Ichigo squawked. "That's not my name! What do you think you're doing?"

The little girl, Ichigo's sister, giggled. "I think it's cute, Berry-tan!"

Ichigo looked torn between snapping at his sister and not wanting to make her cry. "But, Yuzu…" he protested. "My name means 'one who protects', not 'strawberry'!"

"Don't worry, Berry-tan!" Mashiro said brightly before glomping the kid. "You're cute enough that you're fine with nicknames like that!"

"I am not fine with a nickname like that!" Ichigo protested, squirming in Mashiro's embrace.

Mashiro pushed him to arm's length and looked at him with big, watery eyes. Kensei snorted. The kid was screwed. "But you're Berry-tan," she said softly. "That's your name from now on, okay?"

As Kensei predicted, Ichigo couldn't hold out against the devastation that was Mashiro's puppy dog face. The kid looked away uncomfortably before muttering, "Fine, I guess."

"Yaaaaay!" Mashiro cheered, tightly hugging him again. Kensei only felt the need to intervene after Ichigo had been choking for a good amount of time. Served the kid right for pulling one over him.

Hiyori, of course, got the whole story from Mashiro when they returned from the Shoten and was rolling on the ground shrieking in laughter by the time Mashiro finished telling the story.

* * *

"Yo, Kisuke! You in?" Lisa shouted, eyeing the three kids who were sitting on the floor of the Shoten… practicing with reiatsu? Weren't they Human? Then again, Shinji had mentioned something about Urahara taking in some spiritually sensitive kids, so maybe she shouldn't have been as surprised.

She liked the fire she could see in the oldest kid's eyes. With resolve like that, he'd go far in life.

Kisuke soon appeared, his coat fluttering around him. "Lisa, Hachi! What can I do for you today?"

"My manga. Do you have it?" Lisa demanded.

Kisuke flipped open his fan. "This is a candy shop, Lisa-san, not a manga store. I'm afraid you'll have to find your manga elsewhere."

Lisa raised an unimpressed eyebrow. She and Kisuke had to play this game every single time she went to his store. "I know you've got the good stuff hidden away somewhere. Let's not make this difficult."

Kisuke sighed and then capitulated, remarkably quickly. Usually she had to cajole him more to make him give in. Maybe it had something to do with the kids, who had ceased practicing and were staring up at her either curiously or warily. "Alright. Let me go see what I have in the back. Tessai, I trust you can help Hachi?"

"Of course, boss!" came the yell from somewhere within the bowels of the shop.

Kisuke turned to go searching through his storeroom, and Tessai energetically slid into view, eager to see his old lieutenant. "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm making new seals for the new warehouse and need some sealing supplies, including grade A kido ink and paper, class 5 anchor stones, reiatsu converters—" He proceeded to list several items that sounded rather esoteric. Knowing how secretive the Kido Corps were, they probably were.

"We can sell you everything you need! Kisuke just got in a new shipment today. I think he preordered what he anticipated you would need. Be back with your purchases in a minute," Tessai said before following Kisuke to the back of the shop (hopefully to a different section of storage than Kisuke had gone to for her manga).

"Hi," came a small voice from below her. "You're really big!" Lisa glanced down and saw that one of the girls, the honey-haired one, had approached Hachi and was patting him on the leg.

Lisa could see the moment Hachi's heart melted into goop. Hachi was always a sucker for small, cute things. This girl had the largest member of the Vizards wrapped around her little finger, and she didn't even know it.

"I am," he replied gently. "What's your name?"

The girl smiled. "I'm Yuzu!" She pointed to the other kids, probably her siblings. "And that's Ichigo and Karin!" Lisa noted that the other girl – a twin? – was much less cute than her sister, wearing a frown on her face that looked out of place on someone so young. The boy, Ichigo, was also scowling, faint lines on his face suggesting that he did so often. Lisa wondered what kind of stress the boy had undergone to have visible reminders of it on his face at such a young age, probably just a decade or less. Then again, Shinji had said something about the kid losing his parents…

Karin nodded at the two Vizards. "Hello," she said calmly before returning to what she'd been doing before – it looked like meditation.

Ichigo grunted a greeting, keeping a sharp eye on Hachi to make sure he didn't do anything. Ichigo seemed a bit overprotective, but if he had lost his parents, it would only be natural for him to cling to the family he had left.

"I'm Hachi. Can you show me what you were doing?" Hachi asked softly.

Yuzu brightened at the attention. "Sure! We're learning how to control our rei-reiatsu so we don't attract Hollows. Ichigo and Karin can already see spirits, but I still can only see them fuzzily, so I'm working on that, too." She tugged Hachi toward her siblings and sat him down behind them. Ichigo and Karin eyed him a bit warily, but Lisa couldn't blame them. Soft-hearted as he was, Hachi's size made him a bit intimidating for people who didn't know him.

Well, Lisa was bored, and she didn't have anything better to do while she waited for Kisuke to return with her manga. She joined Hachi in sitting with the children. "I'm Lisa," she introduced shortly and received a chorus of greetings. "Show us what you were doing."

Yuzu blushed and fidgeted. "Well, I'm not very good at it yet, but…" Her tiny reiatsu signature stuttered to a dull candle rather than the cheery campfire it had been. Lisa waited for the girl to lose control of her reiatsu, but she never did. She either had very good reiatsu control, or she simply had a small amount of reiatsu that was easy to manipulate. Lisa was betting on a combination of both.

"That's very impressive," Hachi praised. "How long can you hold it for?"

"Um, not very long, only as long as I concentrate." Which probably wasn't for too long because of how young Yuzu was. While Hachi began to slowly coax Yuzu through a series of beginner's exercises for controlling reiatsu, Lisa took the time to study Yuzu's siblings.

In contrast with his sister's subdued reiatsu signature, Ichigo's was more of a raging bonfire. He had quite a lot of reiatsu – an impressive amount for a Human, actually – but he seemed to struggle more with controlling the output of his reiatsu. However, he was also working on more advanced exercises than either of his sisters were. If Mashiro's story was true, then he could pull off some rudimentary kido, too.

Karin was somewhere between her two siblings, having more reiatsu than her sister but marginally better control than her brother. She soon joined Yuzu in getting lessons from Hachi, evidently curious about what she could learn.

Finally, Kisuke returned with her manga and Tessai appeared with Hachi's kido equipment. While Lisa paid for everything they were buying, Hachi had to work on extricating himself from the young girls, who were quite taken with his soft voice and kind personality. Somewhere in there, Hachi promised to return to visit the twins (the sucker) before Lisa was able to get everyone back on track and her and Hachi out the door.

Lisa had to grudgingly admit, though, those were some pretty impressive little Human kids Kisuke had taken on.

* * *

"Yoruichi! You're back!" Ichigo looked on, unimpressed, as his guardian began cooing over a black cat that came sauntering into the shop one day. It yawned and licked its paw before Urahara happily scooped it up.

"This is Ichigo!" Urahara said cheerfully as he brought the cat over to Ichigo. "Say hi!"

"Meow," said the cat in a deep voice that sounded more human than cat-like and really creeped Ichigo out. He'd come to expect eccentricity from Urahara and everything associated with him (and what did that say about Ichigo?), but there were some things even now that he struggled with.

"C'mon, Ichigo, tell Yoruichi hi!" Urahara cajoled.

Ichigo rolled his eyes but acquiesced. "Hello."

Before he could get suckered into playing with the cat, like Urahara would no doubt try to do, he headed back into the store, but not before he heard Urahara say, "So I bet you're wondering what's up with Ichigo…"

* * *

A few hours later, Ichigo sensed three reiatsu signatures entering the shop. His sensing at range still wasn't great, but he could kind of sense things that were close by. One of the reiatsu signatures seemed familiar. He headed to the front of the store and saw that he was correct: Shinji had come back and was accompanied by two other men.

Ichigo owed a lot to the blonde for first helping him out of his depression and then telling him what had really happened to his parents and, by extension, introducing him to the spirit world.

Shinji noticed him watching and waved, grinning widely and showing more teeth than most people would be comfortable with.

"Ah, Shinji-san, Rose, Love, welcome back!" Urahara greeted, still holding onto the cat he'd called Yoruichi.

"Kisuke, Yoruichi," Shinji nodded.

"Been a while," Yoruichi said.

Wait. Hoooooold on a minute. Had the cat just… talked?

Apparently his disbelief was written all over his face, because Yoruichi turned his way and said amusedly, "What, you've never met a talking cat before?"

Instead of screaming and overreacting like the first few times Urahara showed up with something creepy and unbelievable (that tentacle monster thing held a place in the Hall of Fame, along with the smell that had emitted from the laboratory a few weeks prior), Ichigo simply let out a long-suffering sigh and gave Urahara a reproachful look. The cat cackled. The long-haired man rolled his eyes, while Shinji and the guy with the afro looked amused.

"Yuzu! Karin!" Ichigo called, trying to think of a good way to get revenge. Siccing his curious sisters (especially Yuzu, lover of all things fluffy) on the cat might just do the trick. "Want to meet a talking cat?" He immediately heard scrambling from deeper within the Shoten and fought the urge to smirk.

"Where? Where is it?" Yuzu asked breathlessly, sliding into view. (It really said a lot to the strangeness of what occurred within the Urahara Shoten that Yuzu had stopped questioning things such as talking cats anymore.) She immediately saw the black cat in Urahara's arms and squealed. "Oh! Oh! Can I pet it? Him? Her?"

"Her," informed Yoruichi, which made no sense because of her deep, manly voice, but whatever. "And I suppose you may," she said loftily.

Yuzu squealed in delight and bounded forward to pet Yoruichi, who seemed to enjoy the attention. Ichigo rolled his eyes. Well, that had backfired.

Then Karin came into the front of the store, a little more sedate but still interested. Ichigo simply pointed her in the direction of the cat and she was off.

As his sisters fussed over Yoruichi, Ichigo approached Shinji, who nodded genially at him. "Been a while," the man said.

Ichigo gave Shinji a formal bow and said, "I never did thank you for telling me what happened to tou-san and kaa-san. So, thank you."

Shinji snorted. "Manners don't really suit ya for some reason, kid. But you're welcome, I suppose."

Ichigo looked up and gave a hesitant smile, as though his face had forgotten the movements. Then he asked, "So what did you come here for?"

"Ah, we're here to catch up on some gossip, so ta speak," Shinji said. "Been a while since we got the latest news from the spirit world. By the way, this is Rose—" The long-haired, lanky man gave a wave, "—and this is Love." The guy with the afro nodded.

"So you're Ichigo. We've heard quite a bit about you and your sisters from our friends," Rose said kindly.

"I can't believe you got Kensei," Love added with a smirk. Ichigo jumped at the mention of the gray-haired man he'd bound for, admittedly, a tiny amount of time. He hadn't known that Kensei and… Mashiro?... had been a part of Shinji's group.

"It's nice to meet you," Ichigo said politely. These people were with Shinji and therefore were to be respected, no matter how it chafed on Ichigo's informal preferences.

"What did I say about your manners?" Shinji complained.

"You know, most adults would be telling me to be more polite," Ichigo pointed out.

"That's better. And I'm not most adults," Shinji said decisively.

"Shinji-san, shall we head to the back?" Urahara called, interrupting the conversation. Yuzu and Karin had reluctantly withdrawn from Yoruichi.

"Sorry, kid. Time ta let the grown-ups do grown-up stuff," Shinji said, ruffling his hair before Ichigo could protest and smack his hand away.

Ichigo wanted to hear what they had to say, but Urahara had anticipated his desire and said, "Sorry, Ichigo. Maybe when you're older." And then the adults were gone.

* * *

"So, anythin' new from upstairs?" Shinji asked as he and the others settled around a low table in a room in Urahara's house.

"Well, if you want gossip, I've got everything you could want and more," Yoruichi said. "But if you're looking for something more substantial… I didn't hear anything." Yoruichi, since she had not been officially exiled from the Soul Society, often made trips there to spy on the Gotei 13 and Aizen in cat form.

Only fools would ignore a threat like the Gotei 13. Of course, every time they'd checked, the Shinigami seemed to be unaware of the Vizards' continued existence.

Plus, they needed to keep an eye on Aizen's movements. So far, he seemed to be content to keep experimenting on Hollows and keep his head down as he searched for the Hogyoku.

"Well, no news is good news, as they say," Love said, settling in.

"Do tell us all the gossip ya picked up, though. It's bound ta be entertainin', if nothing else."

Yoruichi gave a feline grin. "So, you know the new captain of the Tenth, that kid genius I was telling you about…"

* * *

Welcome to The Pendulum Family! Hope you'll enjoy your stay, and please leave a review on the way out.

So I'm using reiatsu as a blanket term to cover what, in canon, is both reiatsu and reiryoku, because I can't tell the two apart too well.

Sorry that the Vizards haven't actually adopted the Kurosaki kids yet, but I really want to take the time to do all the characters justice. Do you think I've gotten their characters right?

-HM


	2. Falling Too Deep

As promised, Hachi returned to the Shoten to fulfill his vow to the young Kurosaki twins to visit them, with a tagalong. Mashiro hummed as she approached the Shoten with her fellow Vizard. She'd been intrigued by the Kurosaki siblings and wanted to know more about them.

(It didn't have anything to do with how she could more easily identify with two young girls than with adults. Really, it didn't.)

When they got to the Shoten, it turned out Ichigo was gone for the day, first attending school and then going to karate, as Tessai told them. Mashiro pouted. She wanted to see Berry-tan again.

But his oh-so-cute sisters were in, and Mashiro was happy to play with Yuzu, Karin, and their toys while Hachi watched, occasionally chiming in softly.

The kids were making up some story about how a group of people called the Karakura Superheroes were taking down Hollows that the weak, sad, pathetic Shinigami couldn't handle. Karin's color was red, Yuzu's was yellow, and three of their stuffed toys were brown, maroon, and indigo. Mashiro was, of course, invited to join as Karakura Green, while Hachi was assigned Karakura Pink. Together, after a series of perilous misadventures that required the power of the entire team, they heroically slayed a Hollow that was threatening the poor defenseless Urahara Shoten and saved the day! Mashiro was quite taken with these Karakura Superheroes and with the masterminds behind their creation. Hachi seemed to be enjoying himself, too. It was a nice break from training and worrying about whether the Gotei Thirteen or Aizen would find them.

As they left the shop, Mashiro and Hachi were both given big hugs from the twins. "I wish you could come back soon!" Yuzu said adorably.

Mashiro thought about it. She and Hachi would be busy with the jobs they'd picked up to survive in the Human world… but maybe she could send some of the other Vizards along. Her friends seemed to like the kids (which was a bit surprising, but she wouldn't question a good thing), so maybe coaxing them into visiting wouldn't be all that hard.

* * *

"Oi, Urahara! You in?" Hiyori hollered as she unlocked the normally open door to the Shoten with the key she knew was buried in the dirt. She tapped her foot impatiently while eyeing the bowls of candy arranged in each aisle of the store. Mashiro had finally cajoled her and Shinji into visiting the Urahara Shoten in a thinly veiled attempt to get them to hang out with the Kurosaki kids. They'd finally capitulated. Not because they were going to see the kids, but because they had legitimate business at the Shoten. (At least, that's what Hiyori liked to tell herself.)

"Shh! My sisters are taking their nap!" Ichigo hissed from the front of the shop.

"Where's Urahara?" Hiyori asked in a more normal tone of voice. "I need to speak with him." Honestly, what was Urahara doing, leaving a little kid in charge of the store?

"Oh. He's gone out on a supply run with Tessai-san. He's not here. That's why the door was locked." Ichigo rolled his eyes.

Hiyori threw up her arms in exasperation. "Of course he's not here! That flaky man is never here when I need him! Ugh."

"…He has shown me where the candy is stored and how to ring up a purchase. Do you need anything like that?" Ichigo offered.

"Nah, I need him to take a look at my gigai. I'm having some difficulties with it," Hiyori said. "But! Since you're here, you can entertain us while we're waiting for Urahara. How's your training going?" Okay, so she was a bit curious about the boy she'd been thrashed by Urahara for.

Ichigo glared at her but said nothing.

"How's your training goin'?" Shinji repeated.

Ichigo grumbled under his breath, but, to Hiyori's irritation, the boy's respect for Shinji was stronger than his respect for her (which was understandable, considering how they'd met, but it was still irksome). "…My Bakudo #1 is getting a little stronger, and I've started learning Bakudo #2: Bou. But they're hard!" he complained. "My reiatsu just doesn't do what I want it to."

"Your control will get better over time," Shinji assured. "Why don't ya show us your Bakudo #1? Ya can cast it on Hiyori."

"Huh?! Why do I have to be the guinea pig?!" Hiyori shouted, irate, immediately grabbing Shinji's tie and getting in his face.

"Because you're a more convenient size for him!"

"Are you calling me small?!"

"Shh! Be quiet! My sisters are sleeping!" Ichigo snapped.

"—just saying he might find it easier ta cast on ya—"

"Then why don't you volunteer to be bound?"

"Because I don't want ta be bound!"

"Yeah? Well, neither do I, you asshole!"

"Bakudo #1: Sai!" Ichigo, momentarily forgotten, proclaimed.

Hiyori yelped as her arms were restrained behind her back. For a second, at least, before she broke the weak spell and whirled around, grabbing Ichigo by the front of his shirt. Shinji, meanwhile, was snickering, but she'd deal with that bastard in a minute.

"You brat! I never actually said you could cast it on me!" Hiyori growled.

Ichigo refused to back down. "My sisters. Are. Sleeping! Keep it down!"

"I won't take attitude from a punk like you! And after coming all this way just to see you, too!" Hiyori regretted the words the instant they were out of her mouth. The last thing she wanted was admitting what she'd just revealed. If the others heard, they'd never let her live it down.

"…Just to see me?" Ichigo parroted, immediately wary. Which was fair, because last time they'd come to see him, he'd been thrown across a room and kidnapped across town, even though they'd really been doing him a favor, in the end.

"Came ta check up on ya. How are ya doin', kid?" Shinji asked. "Hiyori wanted ta know if ya were okay."

"Hey! Don't go pretending like I'm the only one who came here to see him, Baldy!" Hiyori protested. Well, now that her cover was blown, might as well go all in.

"I'm fine," Ichigo said, fidgeting like he was embarrassed by the attention but still a little pleased. "You don't need to worry."

Shinji eyed him carefully, assessing. Ichigo squirmed a little bit under the scrutiny but didn't look away. Shinji gave a wide smile, then reached forward and ruffled the kid's hair before Ichigo could protest, earning Shinji a squawk and a hand batted away.

"Looks like you're doin' okay. Ya don't need any more interference from us. Let's go, Hiyori."

Hiyori snorted. While she couldn't stand breathing the same air as Shinji sometimes, she did recognize his skill in gauging people, and if Shinji said that Ichigo was fine, then there was no more reason for them to stay.

Shinji turned to leave and said, "Bye, kid. It was nice seein' ya again." Hiyori followed him without saying a word.

"Wait!" Shinji and Hiyori stopped and glanced back. Ichigo fidgeted for a second before blurting, "You should come back sometime. To help with my kido."

To Hiyori's surprise, instead of flat-out rejecting him (like he would have done with almost anyone else), Shinji appeared to be considering it. He must have really taken a liking to the kid. (Then again, considering how far out of his way he'd gone to help him, perhaps it shouldn't have come as a shock.) "We'll see," Shinji said, grinning.

"And don't forget to lock the door when you leave!" Ichigo called as they left the store.

* * *

Mashiro bugged and pleaded and whined, and finally Kensei gave in and went to the Shoten with the intention of seeing Urahara's adoptees. He didn't even make it inside the store, though, because he saw the honey-haired girl – Yuzu – outside, determinedly sweeping with a broom that was taller than she was. She waved happily when she noticed him.

"Hello, Kensei-san! What do you need? Urahara-san is in the back, if you want him," she said helpfully, pointing.

Might as well start here. "Hi, Yuzu-chan," he said, crouching. "What are you doing?" He tried to keep his irritation at Mashiro from entering his voice.

Yuzu beamed up at him, and he glanced away, uncomfortable. Children were too easy to please. "I'm getting rid of dust!" she announced proudly, awkwardly brandishing the broom.

"You're a little young to be doing chores like that," Kensei noted, eyeing the height difference between the little girl and the broom.

Yuzu's eyebrows drew together as she pouted. "You sound like Urahara-san!" she complained. "I'm five! That's old enough to do things like this!"

Kensei coughed, acutely feeling the difference between his centuries of experience and just how _young_ human children could be. "Aren't you supposed to want to play with dolls or something?"

Yuzu's expression shuttered, suddenly somber. "Kaa-san did the chores and cooked," she said quietly. "I want to be like her."

"What happened to your kaa-san?" Kensei asked automatically, insensitively.

Yuzu sniffed. Oh, crap, was she going to cry? "She was killed by a monster. A Hollow," she said, looking at the ground.

Now that he was thinking about it, Kensei had heard something about how the kids Urahara had taken in were orphaned by a Hollow. He probably should have remembered that, but in his defense, he hadn't really been interested at the time Shinji and Hiyori had been talking about it. "Uh," he said, trying to figure out how he was supposed to comfort the girl. "There, there," he said awkwardly, patting Yuzu on the back. He squawked in alarm when Yuzu latched on to him, burying her face in his shirt. Silently cursing Mashiro and hungry Hollows in general for getting him into this mess, Kensei resigned himself to being Yuzu's handkerchief for a while. He was the worst with crying little kids. How to get her to stop sobbing? His first instinct was to yell at her, but that would probably just make it worse. His eyes fell on the broom, and an idea started to form.

"Hey, uh, kid, let go for a second. I've got something to show you," Kensei said, trying to gently pull Yuzu off him. She let go, sniffling and generally looking miserable. He swooped down, grabbed the broom, and struck a wild pose with it, pretending it was a dance partner.

Then Kensei began to sing, a striking baritone that almost no one knew he could produce. It was some upbeat song from a few decades ago in the Human world, something about sunshine and love. He twirled around the broom, contorting himself into strange positions that certainly weren't part of any dance tradition he'd ever heard of in an attempt to cheer up the little girl.

It seemed to work. Yuzu's face transitioned from red and blotchy to… still red and blotchy, but she'd stopped crying, at least, and was watching him with fascination. Finally, she started giggling, and Kensei took that as his cue that he'd done his job and could stop singing and dancing like a lunatic. He stretched, making sure he hadn't damaged his gigai (which he'd worn specifically so Yuzu could see him easily), and crouched by her, handing the broom back to her.

"You doing better, kid?" he asked gruffly, a bit embarrassed by his display. At least his audience had only been a little girl.

"I am. Thank you, Kensei-san," Yuzu said, stepping forward to hug Kensei. After a few seconds, he gently hugged her back, a soft smile unknowingly flitting across his face. Even he had to admit, Yuzu was a pretty adorable little girl.

Yuzu stepped back and wiped at her eyes, presenting Kensei with a watery smile. It made all the singing and dancing entirely worth it. …All this emotion was making him mushy. But he wasn't too bothered by it, for some reason.

"Okay. I'm okay… I should get back to my sweeping now, Kensei-san," Yuzu said, gesturing with the broom. "But thank you so much for visiting! Was there anything you needed from the shop?"

"Oh, uh. Not really?" Quick, he needed a cover story so it didn't seem like he was being a softie. "I, uh, was just in the neighborhood… and I wanted to make sure the shop was still standing?" Crap, that was lame.

Yuzu giggled. "Urahara-san hasn't destroyed the shop yet! Thank you for worrying, though."

"…Yeah, okay. Bye, Yuzu-chan." He turned and walked away, waving over his shoulder without looking back.

"Please feel free to come back sometime!" Yuzu called cheerfully.

As Kensei returned to the warehouse, he thought about his encounter with Yuzu. He wasn't sure if he'd ever been that gentle with anyone in his entire life. It was… different. And for a little kid that had cried all over him, Yuzu was such a kind and likable person.

…Maybe he'd direct Rose, their best cook, in Yuzu's direction. She'd said something about wanting to learn to cook and would no doubt appreciate talking to someone who could teach her how to.

(And maybe, just maybe, he'd find it in himself to visit Yuzu again.)

* * *

"So, Lisa, you need new manga, _already_ … Rose needs new strings for his guitar, and Love needs a new tracksuit?" Urahara asked skeptically. Lisa didn't blame him; their excuses were pitifully thin. The Vizards were many things, but discreet was not one of them, at least when it came to personal relationships. Plus, the other Vizards had already been snooping around the shop more frequently than usual.

"I run a candy shop," Urahara said long-sufferingly, continuing with the charade. "You people are going to have to go somewhere else to find what you need."

"I actually came to visit Ichigo-kun's sister?" Rose said, earning himself an elbow in the gut courtesy of Lisa.

The damage was already done, however. "Oh, you wanted to see the Kurosakis? Why didn't you say so!" Urahara said cheerfully. "Ichigo-kun! Karin-chan! Yuzu-chan! There are visitors here to see you!" he called while Lisa facepalmed. So much for checking up on the kids covertly. It wasn't that she was personally involved with the children, and neither Rose nor Love had really interacted with them… it was just that the other Vizards seemed to be getting attached, for some reason, and Mashiro had been particularly vocal in trying to get them to visit the Shoten. Unexpectedly, Kensei had also jumped on the bandwagon and had asked Rose to teach one of the girls some cooking. (Discreetly, of course, but nothing stayed secret for long in the Vizards' warehouse.)

Three children scampered into view, the lighter-haired girl looking particularly excited. "Visitors!" she exclaimed. "Welcome! It's nice to meet you!"

The boy, whom Lisa recognized as Ichigo, was squinting. "You're, um, Rose-san… and Love-san?" he said, pointing first at Love, then at Rose.

Love chuckled. "Other way around, kiddo."

Rose, meanwhile, was studying the two girls. "Which one of you is Yuzu-chan?" he asked kindly, crouching.

"I am!" Yuzu said energetically, pointing to herself.

"Hello, Yuzu-chan," Rose said warmly. "Kensei has told me about you."

"Kensei-san? You know him?" Yuzu wondered.

"Yes. We live in a commune-type of situation. It's where a group of people live together," Rose explained upon seeing the children's confused looks. "…So I heard, Yuzu-chan, that you want to learn how to cook."

Yuzu brightened. "Yes, I do, Rose-san! Will you teach me?"

"Sure," Rose said, smiling as he rose and held a hand out. Yuzu, smart girl, looked at Urahara for permission before taking his hand and following him to the back, where the kitchen was located.

Karin was scowling, jealous that her sister was getting lessons. Lisa later learned that she had tried to follow her sister's footsteps and help around the house but just wasn't suited for such work. But Karin soon distracted herself.

"Hey, what's that you've got?" Karin asked, pointing at Love's shonen manga.

"This?" Love said, surprised, as he held up the manga book. "It's shonen manga. A little girl like you wouldn't be interested in it…"

"Show me!" Karin insisted with big, determined eyes. Love shrugged and sat cross-legged next to Karin to show her his book.

Well, it looked like the other two Vizards had paired off with the girls, so Lisa supposed she was left with Ichigo. Which wasn't a problem, because Shinji seemed to like him (an impressive feat, because Shinji was a paranoid bastard), and Lisa wanted to know why. "Guess you're with me," she said to him. "Oi, Urahara! Let us use the training room in the basement."

Urahara tugged at his hat. "Very well. You know the way, Lisa."

She tucked Ichigo under her arm and, before he could protest, jumped down the ladder to the training room. They'd hardly be using the whole space, but it was better than trying to fight in a crowded room in the Shoten.

"Now. Show me what you've got, kid."

Ichigo's skills were about average, for a kid his size and age, but what interested Lisa was that he kept getting back up after she knocked him down for the umpteenth time, refusing to cry and refusing to quit, even though he was obviously completely outmatched even with Lisa in a restricting gigai. A lot of adults and Shinigami Lisa had known didn't have the stubborn staying power this kid did. He'd also, apparently, recovered from his parents' deaths remarkably quickly from just a few choice words from Shinji. So this was what had impressed Shinji enough that he'd wanted to visit the kid again.

Later, she'd discover that Love had read the entire volume of his manga out loud to an enraptured Karin and that the cooking lessons with Yuzu had gone well, the little girl a surprisingly attentive student (and a sweet girl, besides). Both Love and Rose had unexpectedly found that they'd enjoyed their time with the tiny Human girls. It was a remarkable change from interacting with annoying Humans at their jobs. They really were extraordinary kids. But, then again, when had anything associated with Urahara ever been completely normal?

* * *

"You're doing very well, Karin-chan!" Hachi said, carefully watching as the young girl struggled to form a small ball of reiatsu in the air above her hand. She'd definitely improved from the last time he'd seen her, when she could just produce wisps.

With Yuzu, meanwhile, he was playing a simple game of catch – except that the ball could only be seen by people with who could see spirits. Yuzu was able to see and catch the ball most of the time, but she was still having difficulties, even though her reiatsu had gotten stronger since the last time he'd seen her.

Half an hour later, Karin collapsed, winded. "This is… so much harder… than Ichigo makes it out to be," she huffed.

"I have a headache," Yuzu added. Which was understandable, because she'd been straining her eyes for some time now.

"Let's take a break," Hachi suggested, impressed with both girls. They had good work ethics, for five year olds, and didn't complain when they encountered difficulties in their training. He wondered who their parents had been, to produce such remarkable children. "Would you like to watch something on TV?" Maybe not the best cure for a headache, but it would likely cheer the children up.

"Super Sentai!" Karin instantly declared.

"Yeah!" Yuzu agreed. "The Karakura Superheroes need some new recruits!"

And so Hachi found himself introduced to the children's show, Super Sentai. And maybe got a little too invested in the show, courtesy of two happy, cheering girls. There was a TV in the warehouse, but it was almost never used. Perhaps it was time to fix that…

* * *

"Okay, now my gigai is actually giving me trouble. Where's Urahara?" Hiyori asked as she entered the Urahara Shoten and saw only Ichigo and one of his sisters – Yuzu, judging by the hair – sitting up front. Seriously, who left that flake in charge of kids? Making them man a shop was bad parenting.

"Oh, welcome back, Rose-san! And, um…" Yuzu greeted, unsure of Hiyori's name. They'd never met, so it was understandable.

"Name's Hiyori," she said.

"Hiyori-san, nice to meet you! Urahara-san just stepped out for a minute and will be back soon," Yuzu informed them.

"Yuzu-chan, it's nice to see you again," Rose said, smiling at the young girl. He'd tagged along when he heard Hiyori would be visiting the Shoten, wanting to check up on Yuzu. That little girl had apparently enchanted Rose like she had Hachi and Mashiro.

"Thank you so much for teaching me your recipes!" Yuzu said enthusiastically.

"Hey. How are you doing?" Hiyori asked, approaching Ichigo, whose resting expression seemed to be a frown. "How's your kido coming along?"

"…I'm a bit stuck on Bakudo #2: Bou. My reiatsu just kind of… runs off when I try to get it to do the spell," Ichigo grumbled.

"Well, the first spells are supposed to be the easiest, with each spell after getting harder to cast, since they're more complex," Hiyori explained. "Numbers one through ten aren't that difficult, though…" Ichigo gave her an annoyed glare. "It might be just because you're young and don't have a good handle on your reiatsu yet. It's pretty impressive you can cast Sai already," she offered awkwardly.

Rose seemed to be having a much easier time with Yuzu. Hiyori liked kids okay, but she wasn't that good interacting with them simply because of her temper.

"Hiyori, hello! I hear you need someone to take a look at your gigai?" Urahara said jovially as he stepped to the front of the shop.

"Yeah, it's acting up. Can't move it like I should," Hiyori said, stepping forward. "Fix it!"

"Okay, okay," Urahara said, holding up his soul-separating cane and hitting her in her sternum. Hiyori's gigai flopped limply to the floor while Hiyori herself staggered back.

"Warn me next time you do that!" she roared. "And don't you dare do anything perverted with that gigai!"

"Yes, yes," Urahara said, stooping to pick up the gigai. "In the meantime, I'm sure you can keep yourself occupied." Then he swept out as quickly as he came, taking the gigai to the bowels of the laboratory.

"Ugh, that flake," Hiyori complained. How would she spend the time while Urahara was fixing her gigai? Maybe she'd spend more time with Ichigo…

"Ichi-nii! Super Sentai comes on soon!" Yuzu said, beckoning her brother towards the back.

"What's Super Sentai?" Rose asked, bemused.

"It's only the best TV show ever!" Yuzu answered enthusiastically with stars in her eyes. "Won't you come watch it with us, Rose-san?"

"Sure," he said, capitulating instantly.

Ichigo looked a little more reluctant, but he seemed to be quietly enthusiastic about whatever was on TV that Yuzu wanted to see. Hiyori was curious, and it wasn't like she had anything better to do with her time while Urahara was fiddling with her gigai. "Can I come, or is this a special invite only kind of thing?" she questioned brusquely.

Hiyori regretted ever asking, because then she and Rose were introduced to Super Sentai, and from then on, like Hachi, they both were completely, unashamedly hooked.

* * *

Love… may have been a bit fond of the feisty little girl he'd read his manga to last time he'd visited. And the other Vizards were all visiting the kids, so why not him, too?

"Love-san! Welcome!" said Urahara as he entered the shop. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Love fidgeted a bit. It was one thing to admit to himself that he wanted to visit a little Human girl; it was quite another to tell it to another person, particularly Urahara, who was a bit intimidating and a lot creepy.

"You're here to visit the Kurosakis," Urahara deduced astutely.

"Ahaha, yeah, you got me," Love said uncomfortably.

Urahara gestured behind him. "Go on; they're in the back," he said. Love needed no further prompting and entered the home portion of the store after politely taking off his shoes, tracking three tiny reiatsu signatures. Two were in the kitchen; the last one, and the one Love was looking for, was in a room by herself. He knocked on the door, which soon slid aside to reveal Karin.

"Oh, Love-san!" she said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Love held up the latest edition of Weekly Shonen Jump. "I thought you'd appreciate finding out what happened to Naruto-kun. That is, if you want to…"

Karin immediately brightened, excited by the offer. "Yes! Come in!" Love entered the room, which looked like the twins' bedroom, sporting two futons and a smattering of stuffed animals. Karin settled herself on one of the futons and patted the space beside her. Love sat crossed-legged and opened the manga magazine to the first page, where the editors had put their most popular manga.

Love read the entire magazine to an enraptured and attentive Karin, who was enthralled by the action sequences and fascinated by the artwork. Love had to admit, sharing his manga with someone else was a lot more fun than just reading it alone. It also kept him from spoiling things, like Lisa complained he often did.

After he finished, Karin stood and bowed formally to him. "I'm going to start school soon and learn how to read, but in the meantime, please keep reading your manga to me!" she requested fervently.

"So you enjoy it, then?" Love asked.

Karin straightened and look affronted. "Of course! It's a nice change from just watching Super Sentai and Sailor Moon, or playing Karakura Superheroes with Yuzu, or training with Urahara-san." She paused for a moment, then continued, "It's a little boring here, to be honest…"

"I'm sure that will change when you start school," Love assured. "And I would be happy to read my manga to you more. It's actually pretty boring where I live, too."

"Awesome," Karin grinned before giving Love a hug. Love couldn't help smiling, and he vowed he'd stop by once a week to read to the girl.

…He could see why the other Vizards were getting attached. It was a nice change of pace, interacting with a child.

* * *

…Okay, this time, Shinji had no excuse to dismiss that he was visiting the Urahara Shoten solely to see Ichigo. Hachi tagged along, completely taken with Ichigo's younger sisters. Shinji was sure that they were very nice girls, according to what some of the other Vizards had disclosed, but second-hand reports weren't enough to lure him to the Shoten. Now, first-hand experience with Ichigo, with his unwillingness to be broken and determined spirit uncommon even in centuries-old Shinigami, on the other hand…

All three Kurosaki children were scattered around the shop, obviously bored. Yuzu was listlessly fiddling with a stuffed tiger, Karin was playing catch with the wall, and it looked like Ichigo was napping right on the hard wooden floor in back near Kisuke. But the instant the twins noticed Shinji and Hachi, they immediately perked up, and Yuzu and Karin scrambled to greet the larger Vizard.

"Hachi-san! Hachi-san! You're back!" Yuzu exclaimed, attempting to wrap her arms around one of Hachi's trunk-like legs.

Karin was a little more sedate but no less excited. "Hachi-san, will you play with us some more?" she asked.

"Karakura Pink, at your service," Hachi said demurely.

"Karakura Pink?" Shinji wondered, utterly confused. Was it some game that the girls had made up or something?

"Oh! Oh! Shinji-san! You haven't played Karakura Superheroes with us, have you?" Yuzu said, leaving Hachi and latching her arms around one of Shinji's spindly legs. "You can be Karakura Black! Won't you play with us?"

"I'm actually here ta check on how Ichigo is doin'," Shinji said, unwilling to sacrifice this visit on the off-chance that he wouldn't enjoy hanging out with the girls.

"Oh, Ichi-nii can play too! He's Karakura Orange," Karin piped up. "Right, Ichi-nii?"

Ichigo had awoken from his nap and looked between his sister and Shinji with trepidation. "I don't know; I really should be training my reiatsu—"

"Like you were doing so much of that before," Karin scoffed. "Well, Shinji-san?" Both she and Yuzu looked up at Shinji, pouting. The twins' combined puppy dog stare – Yuzu's, especially – was a force to be reckoned with. How was he supposed to resist that?

"Okay, fine. I'll play with ya girls and Hachi," Shinji capitulated, wondering how it was he'd once been feared across all of Soul Society as one of its strongest captains and was now a playmate to a pair of five-year-old girls. "Shall we head toward the back?"

"Yeah!" Yuzu cheered, holding Hachi's hand and guiding him. It was slightly comical to see the large man being led by a tiny slip of a girl.

"C'mon, Karakura Orange, don't be slow!" Karin said cheerfully as she dragged her brother behind her. Glancing back at the spectacle, he also noticed Kisuke staring at the group with a slight bit of incredulity and a lot of amusement – at Shinji's expense, the bastard.

"Am I goin' ta regret this?" Shinji whispered to Ichigo as they moved into the house.

Ichigo gave a rueful smile. "Nah. It's just a pretty big game of make-pretend," he said. "It's kind of childish and a bit outlandish, but my sisters are young, so…"

"Well, after we're done here, I would like ta see how your kido is comin' along," Shinji said as they settled in the sitting room.

Once the girls had returned from their room with an array of stuffed animals, Shinji asked, "Why am I Karakura Black? Why not Karakura Yellow for my hair, like Hachi?"

"Because we already have a Karakura Yellow, and Rose-san has blond hair too, so he's Karakura Gold when he joins in the future," Yuzu explained seriously. They'd evidently given this a lot of thought, if they were including Vizards that hadn't played with them yet.

"Then why can't I be… Karakura Saffron, or something?" Shinji complained.

Karin made a face. "Because that doesn't sound as awesome as Karakura Black. C'mon, Shinji-san, don't be uncool." Shinji sputtered indignantly. Hachi looked completely indifferent, but Shinji was sure the large man was laughing on the inside.

"Okay! It's my turn to make the story! Here are your characters," Yuzu said as she tossed stuffed animals according to color to each player. "So, the Karakura Superheroes sense a group of Hollows heading towards a weak Shinigami…"

Shinji had to admit, for a pair of five-year-old girls, Yuzu and Karin sure were creative. As Ichigo had warned him, the game was a bit childish and overblown, but it wasn't unbearable. Thankfully, it didn't take too long, either, the twins impatient to kick Hollow butt without too many overdrawn dramatics. It left plenty of time to check on Ichigo's kido before Shinji had to leave for his shift as a bartender at a local nightclub.

Ichigo's Sai was getting stronger. Slowly. And his Bou was getting more sophisticated, binding both arms and legs like it was supposed to. Shinji had a feeling that kido wouldn't be Ichigo's strong suit once he started learning the other Shinigami arts, though.

* * *

How did Kensei find himself in this situation? He was a terrifying Vizard, and a powerful Shinigami captain before that. He'd struck fear into the hearts of all of his enemies. And yet…

"Karakura White! One of the Hollows is approaching you! What do you do?" Karin narrated.

"Ooh! Kensei, what are you going to do?" Mashiro trilled, excited.

"It's Karakura White!" Karin reminded her.

"…I punch the Hollow in its face," Kensei said in a monotone, shifting the white stuffed bear that represented his character forward toward the plastic figure that represented the Hollow.

"Karakura White is an expert at punching Hollows in their faces," Mashiro added seriously.

"Karakura Red, does Karakura White shatter the Hollow's mask?" Yuzu asked earnestly.

Karin contemplated the conundrum carefully. "Well, considering his beefy arms… I suppose he does. But! Another Hollow sneaks up behind the first one and tackles him! I'm too far away; Karakura Yellow, Karakura Green, what do you do?"

"I heroically sweep in and save Karakura White!" Yuzu squealed excitedly.

Looking at Yuzu's smiling face, Karin's obvious enthusiasm, and Mashiro's zeal, Kensei couldn't help but think that the humiliation of playing make-believe was worth it.

…As long as none of the others found out.

* * *

Rose had moseyed on down to the Shoten to visit Yuzu again with Lisa tagging along, bored during her off-day from working at a bookstore (which, to her chagrin, didn't carry the perverted manga Lisa seemed so fond of). But when they reached the shop, they couldn't sense any of the Kurosakis' reiatsu signatures.

"Yuzu and Karin started school today," Urahara informed them when questioned. "So they're all at school, and Ichigo told me he'd be staying late to clean."

Rose was willing to wait the half hour it took for Yuzu and Karin to return to the Shoten, and Lisa figured being bored at the Shoten wouldn't be much different from being bored at the warehouse. Finally, they felt two tiny reiatsu signatures approaching the Shoten. Yuzu and Karin, both out of breath from running and looking cute in their elementary school uniforms, appeared in the doorway.

"Rose-san! I could sense you from outside the Shoten!" Yuzu said, beaming.

"Excellent work, Yuzu-chan," Rose praised. "So, how was your first day of school?"

"I think we saw a Shinigami on our way home! He jumped across the street from the roof, and he was wearing a black hakama, and he had a sword!" Karin told them excitedly.

"Oh? Did he bother you at all?" Lisa asked.

"No, he didn't pay any attention to us," Yuzu said.

"So, what was school like?" Rose asked after neither twin volunteered any more information.

"It was fun! We got to play with crayons, and sensei was super nice. But I think learning to read and write will be hard," Yuzu said.

"Not to mention math," Karin added.

"Well, I suppose I could help you with reading and writing," Lisa offered. Neither Yuzu nor Karin were much like bookish little Nanao-chan, but reading to the girls wouldn't be so different.

She was rewarded with a big smile from Yuzu. "Thank you, Lisa-san!" These kids weren't Nanao-chan, who was likely grown up by now… but maybe they could be special to her in their own way.

"Hey, Super Sentai comes on soon, and there's a special double episode of Sailor Moon right after! Won't you watch with us?" Karin said, pointing toward the back of the shop.

Lisa had never heard of either Super Sentai or Sailor Moon. Might as well see what entertained the kids nowadays.

She regretted the decision. She'd known Hachi had been more interested in the TV lately, but she hadn't known that he'd been watching this… this… perfection. Maybe there was less bare skin than she would have liked, but the shows were charming in their own rights. Looking over at Rose, she could see that he was interested too, perhaps in the style of music that the shows utilized on in the artwork or special effects. Humans sure could be creative.

After both shows had finished, Yuzu, who was sitting in Rose's lap, said, "Hey, while we're waiting for Ichi-nii, why don't we play Karakura Superheroes? We based it off Super Sentai! Rose-san, you're Karakura Gold! And Lisa-san, you're… hmm…"

"Karakura Purple!" Karin declared.

"Oh? A game based on Super Sentai? This could be interesting," Lisa said. These kids were far different from Nanao-chan, less mature and more excitable, but they were still cute. And purple… she could live with the designation purple.

Karakura Superheroes was fun, for a game cooked up by a pair of five-year-olds. When she got more time off, she'd have to visit them again sometime – not just to play with them. She missed reading to little kids.

* * *

"Who's the leader?" Hiyori asked, sitting in a rough circle with Yuzu, Karin, Hachi, and some stuffed animals. She had visited the Shoten with Hachi to see Ichigo, but the boy was at karate, so she had to make do with playing Karakura Superheroes with his sisters.

"Red," Karin informed her proudly.

"Well, then I want to be Red!" It matched her coat and the markings on her mask. Besides, she was obviously fit for a leader position.

"We already have a Red!" Karin said indignantly. "I'm Red!"

Hiyori was nothing if not stubborn, though. If she couldn't be _red_ red, she'd just have to be an awesomer red. "Then I'll be Crimson, and you can share responsibility with me!" the newly dubbed Karakura Crimson declared, pointing at herself with her thumb.

Hachi shook his head and Yuzu pouted as this started an argument, but in the end, Hiyori was not to be denied. She graciously allowed Karin to be main leader, though, because Hiyori couldn't always be present.

* * *

"Ready or not, here I cooooooome!" Mashiro sing-songed, peeking between her fingers at the rocky expanse of Urahara's training grounds. She could sense Ichigo just fine, and Karin if she focused, but Yuzu… she'd have to wait for little Yuzu to lose concentration before she could find her.

In the meantime, she skipped around rubble and boulders, humming to herself. No shunpo allowed, but she was still faster than all of the kids combined. She bent over to see into a small crevice between a boulder and the ground which Ichigo had somehow shoved himself into. He was scowling, no doubt knowing that his shoddy ability to hide his reiatsu was the reason he'd been singled out first.

"Tag! You're it!" Mashiro exclaimed, poking Ichigo in the forehead. He grunted in acknowledgement as he wriggled out from under the boulder. Now, to find the girls by sensing them in their hiding places…

Mashiro giggled to herself. This kind of hide-and-seek was so much fun!

* * *

"…and so the sad little ghost finally had a friend," Lisa narrated, Karin cuddled up by her side. Yuzu and Kensei were on the opposite side of the Shoten, the former sitting in the latter's lap as he read a short chapter book to her, something about fairies. Lisa inwardly snorted; Kensei was such a pushover for Yuzu.

Ichigo, meanwhile, was working on his reiatsu control. Both Vizards would occasionally call tips to him as he struggled to corral his wild reiatsu. With control that bad, it was pretty miraculous that he could pull off any kido at all. Or maybe he just had enough extra energy to make up for any deficit he wasted (which was impressive, for a Human).

* * *

Shinji stared at a small, red-haired boy about Yuzu and Karin's age who was sitting just outside of the Shoten. Now, he could be dense about certain social conventions, but he was pretty sure that Humans didn't spontaneously de-age (though he had found out their hair could change into some pretty cool colors with dye nowadays). Also with the boy was a tiny, black-haired girl who definitely wasn't Karin, judging by the pigtails and the shy, soft demeanor. What were these squirts doing at the Shoten without their parents?

"What are you looking at, you weirdo?!" the boy yelled belligerently, shaking a tiny fist at Shinji.

Shinji shook his head. It wasn't any of his business, and besides, he was here to see the Kurosakis anyway (who were much cooler kids, in his opinion).

"Now, now, Jinta, don't go scaring off potential customers," Kisuke said, stepping to the front of the store to see what the commotion was about. "Shinji-san, Love, Hachi, welcome. I assume you're here to visit the Kurosakis?"

"Those losers?" Jinta scoffed, scuffing the dirt with his toes. Shinji could read the jealousy plain as day on his face.

"Hey, now," said a frowning Love, who was more confrontational than laid-back Shinji or quiet Hachi and had gotten rather defensive of the Kurosakis (specifically Karin) even among the Vizards.

"Your kids seem ta have multiplied," Shinji commented to Kisuke as Love started low key scolding the kid and the kid high key yelled back.

Kisuke snorted. "Yes, the Shoten is getting a bit crowded."

"So what's the deal with 'em?"

"Jinta's a spiritually sensitive orphan. Couldn't just ignore him, especially not after the Kurosakis. Ururu…" Kisuke lowered his voice. "She's a cast-out experiment from the Twelfth. Yoruichi rescued her and brought her here."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Didn't take ya ta be much of a bleedin' heart," he commented. Kisuke looked away uncomfortably.

"Kisuke's always had a kind heart. I guess you just don't notice it between all the experiments," Yoruichi said, having stealthily sauntered up to Kisuke and Shinji while they were conversing.

"Don't give away all my secrets, Yoruichi," Kisuke complained.

"Hachi-san, I thought I sensed you outside the store!" Yuzu exclaimed excitedly as she emerged from within the Shoten, followed by her siblings and Tessai. The two girls latched on to the larger man happily.

"Hey, be professional! Those are customers!" Jinta yelled at the twins, ignoring both Love and his lecture.

Karin stuck her tongue out at Jinta before turning back to Hachi. "Will you play Karakura Superheroes with us?" she requested, eyes wide and guileless.

"That stupid kiddie game?" Jinta jeered.

"Hey!" Ichigo frowned.

"J-Jinta, don't be mean," Ururu timidly said.

"I didn't ask you!" Jinta yelled, corkscrewing his knuckles into her head.

"He's got an attitude problem, doesn't he?" Shinji noted as Love separated Jinta and Ururu, Karin yelled at Jinta for being a jerk, and Yuzu checked to make sure Ururu was okay. Urahara made an uncomfortable noise.

"Karakura Superheroes is not just a stupid game! Play it with us, and we'll prove it to you! We have enough people for two teams!" Karin shouted angrily.

"Fine, but I'll win! I'm the leader, Karakura Red!" Jinta retaliated.

" _I'm_ Karakura Red! It's already taken! Even if there's two different teams, there can't be two different Reds!" Karin snapped.

"Fine! Then I'll be Karakura Scarlet, and I'll prove that I'm a better leader than you!" Jinta yelled, face red from the force of his anger.

"I'll be referee," Shinji volunteered, grinning. Mediating a feud between some small children would prove to be highly entertaining, more than participating would be. And children working out frustration in such a way was more constructive than outright violence, at any rate.

"Shinji-san, what are you doing?" Kisuke whispered.

"Right!" Karin said, looking determined. "Then it's me, Yuzu, Ichi-nii, Hachi-san, and Love-san!"

"What did I just get dragged into?" Love wondered, scratching his head.

Shinji snickered. "You'll see."

"Okay! Then I've got Ururu, Urahara-san, Tessai-san, and Yoruichi-san!" Jinta announced, pointing at each one in turn.

"Teams, assemble in the back room!" Shinji proclaimed. "If ya don't have one already, pick your name and coordinate with your team leader!"

"This could be fun," Yoruichi commented as she stepped inside, followed by Tessai and Kisuke, who turned the shop sign to 'closed.'

"Might as well do this properly," Kisuke sighed as he was chased by Karin and Jinta, each vying to get to the designated battleground first.

"Sorry about this," Ichigo said after Yuzu and Ururu had entered the Shoten. "He's just been a jerk ever since he came…"

"It's no trouble," Shinji said, guiding the boy inside, Hachi and Love behind him.

It took some time, but finally everyone had been settled into two parties, introductions had been made, appropriate stuffed animals had been distributed, and names had been assigned. When the noise quieted down, Shinji took that as his cue to begin.

"In the blue corner, we have… Karakura Red, Kurosaki Karin! Karakura Yellow, Kurosaki Yuzu! Karakura Orange, Kurosaki Ichigo! Karakura Pink, Ushoda Hachigen! And Karakura Blue, Aikawa Love!" Shinji announced, enjoying himself immensely. "And in the red corner, we have… Karakura Scarlet, Hanakiri Jinta! Karakura Rose, Tsumugiya Ururu! Karakura Jade, Urahara Kisuke! Karakura Pitch, Shihouin Yoruichi! And Karakura Violet, Tsukabishi Tessai!"

It was a long and hard-fought battle, but Karin's team eventually pulled a win from the Karakura Superheroes civil war. Jinta's aggression faded to grudging respect for the Kurosakis, and it looked like each of the adults had had fun. Shinji thought back to some of the highlights of the battle:

Yoruichi cackling as she advanced on Love, who, despite his initial misgivings, had become incredibly invested in the game.

Karin and Jinta squaring off as the leaders, fierce and determined in their roleplaying.

Yuzu and Ururu, hilariously, splitting off from both teams to form their own friendship coalition, unwilling to seriously fight each other (because it seemed they'd become good friends).

Ichigo valiantly facing off against the might and cunning of Urahara Kisuke and losing badly.

Hachi and Tessai battling with miniature live kido above everyone's heads, until sparks had rained down and almost caught Yuzu on fire and Shinji made them stop.

Shinji hadn't helped with any of the children's schoolwork or budding reiatsu abilities this visit to the Shoten. But he actually found he didn't mind.

* * *

"Yuzu's in bed, sick," Karin said, trying to hide her worry. "Sorry, Rose-san."

"It's quite alright," Rose said kindly. "I've heard quite a bit about you and your brother from the others. How is school going?"

Karin brightened at the question. "We've started learning to read and write! It's super hard though," she informed him seriously. "Let me show you!" She scampered off to grab her backpack.

"What about you, Ichigo-kun?" Rose asked while they waited.

"Um, we're learning Japanese history… also math, math is a pain. And we're always learning more about the Japanese language," Ichigo informed him.

Rose chuckled softly. "Japanese is a difficult language to read and write," he said as Karin returned, brandishing a small stack of papers. "Let's see, Karin-chan." Karin proudly showed shaky renditions of simple first-grade characters. "Excellent work, Karin-chan," Rose praised, critically eyeing the legible but inelegant characters – standard work produced by a first-grader, but still impressively readable. "Can I look over your work too, Ichigo-kun?" Ichigo scowled but left to grab some of his homework.

Meanwhile, Karin nervously pulled a sheet of paper from the stack. "You can keep this," she said, looking away in embarrassment. "Yuzu and I worked on it together."

Rose looked over the page and felt his heart melt. All eight Vizards had been inexpertly but lovingly drawn together. Looking over the large ball that was Hachi and Shinji's comically wide smile, Rose felt he'd been given a gift greater than any he'd ever received in the past. Being held in high enough esteem by children that they would draw him was special. He hadn't interacted with Ichigo and Karin as much as he had with Yuzu, but he felt valued all the same.

Maybe Aizen had turned him into a monster a century ago, but as he was regarded by a trepidatious but hopeful Karin, he couldn't help but think that he couldn't be so bad, if sweet little kids like Yuzu and Karin liked him so well.

"Everyone else is going to love this," Rose said warmly. "I'll put it on the fridge, where we can all see it."

Karin gave him a broad grin just as Ichigo returned with his math and kanji homework, and Rose spent the next hour helping Ichigo with the unfinished portions. It was an oddly soothing experience.

Rose checked in on a sleeping Yuzu before leaving, carefully holding the picture she and Karin had drawn.

And, as he predicted, the other Vizards were beyond flattered to see the drawing. It was pinned with magnets in its place of honor on the refrigerator door.

* * *

"Slumber party! Girl's night in!" Yuzu announced as she dragged a pillow bigger than her own body into the Shoten's living room, where there were a bunch of futons and sleeping bags already scattered about, which Ururu had arranged.

"Yay!" Mashiro cheered, helping Yuzu with the pillow as Lisa looked up from her book and Hiyori reluctantly grinned.

"I've got all our girl stuffed animals!" Karin proudly announced, stumbling into the room with a huge armful, followed by Yoruichi, who was holding a stuffed cat in her mouth.

"We'll have so many friends with us tonight!" Yuzu said excitedly as they started arranging the stuffed animals. "We'll have the epic-est team of girl Karakura Superheroes, and we can paint our nails—" Yoruichi had brought nail polish in all shades of the rainbow from who knew where, "—and Lisa can read us bedtime stories and we can have a pillow fight and—"

"What the heck is going on?" Ichigo wondered as he poked his head in through the door, eyeing the conglomeration of people and pillows that had accumulated in the living room.

"Didn't Kisuke tell you? We're having a slumber party," Yoruichi loftily informed him.

"Get out! No boys allowed!" Hiyori hollered as she lobbed a pillow at Ichigo's head.

Ichigo yelped and quickly retreated. "Okay! Okay! I'm going!" Yuzu giggled at her brother's misfortune.

It was, as Yuzu had said, the epic-est slumber party ever. They played Karakura Superheroes – Karakura Red, Karakura Crimson, Karakura Yellow, Karakura Green, Karakura Purple, Karakura Rose, and Karakura Pitch all working together to save all the boys who were a part of the Karakura Superheroes! Then they happily watched some recorded episodes of Super Sentai and Sailor Moon – neither of which Ururu had seen, but she seemed to enjoy them, too (though it was a little hard to tell, because she was so soft-spoken). They painted toenails – Karin and Hiyori got red, Lisa's toes were purple, Ururu's were painted pink, Mashiro somehow found a lime green that matched her hair, and Yuzu got a sunny yellow. Yoruichi declined the polish, saying that it would get in her fur and be a hassle. After the nail polish was dry, all three young girls were nodding off, so Lisa read them a bedtime story and tucked them in.

"Best… slumber party… ever…" Karin murmured as she dozed off. Lisa smiled.

Hiyori made sure the girls were asleep before she turned to Lisa and whispered, "You know, this has been fun, but why aren't the girls doing this kind of thing with kids their own age instead of with us?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Yoruichi said, equally quiet. "Yuzu and Karin… they don't really have friends at school. They tried to bring some kids over one time and, well… let's just say one of Kisuke's experiments went wrong, and now none of them want anything to do with the twins."

"So who do I have to beat up?" Hiyori asked, cracking her knuckles ominously.

"Hiyori! No beating up little kids!" Mashiro scolded.

"You're getting loud. Quiet down. In fact, we should all go to bed. It's pretty late," Lisa said calmly, diffusing the argument before it could even really begin.

"That sounds like a splendid idea," Yoruichi said, curling up by the twins and Ururu and steamrolling past Hiyori's and Mashiro's attempts to pick a fight. "Good night, everyone."

* * *

"Who's this?" Kensei asked bluntly as he eyed a black-haired girl about Ichigo's age staring up at him. It was a good thing he'd decided to wear his gigai; this girl didn't seem to be spiritually sensitive at all. "Did Urahara adopt another one?"

The girl bristled at the implication. "No! I'm just here to see Ichigo," she huffed.

Kensei raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You're friends with him or something?"

"Duh. What else would I be doing here?" She rolled her eyes.

"Tatsuki, where'd you go—oh, Kensei-san. Love-san. Hi," Ichigo said, stepping out of the Shoten.

"You know these people?" Tatsuki demanded.

"Yeah. They visit so much they're practically family," Ichigo replied.

Kensei felt a pleased blush rise to his cheeks at the sentiment. But such a small statement shouldn't have had such an impact on him. He was getting too attached to the Kurosaki kids. He probably should have minded more, but he didn't.

"Weird," Tatsuki grumbled.

"So how do you know Ichigo-kun?" Love asked diplomatically.

"We go to karate together," Ichigo explained.

"Oh? Are you any good?" Kensei wondered curiously.

Tatsuki puffed up proudly. "I'm the best in my age group!" she boasted. "But Ichigo isn't too bad, either."

"Hmm. How about you show us?" Kensei suggested, grinning. Hand-to-hand combat was his forte, and he wanted to see how children were taught to fight in the World of the Living. He could visit with Yuzu and Karin a little later.

Tatsuki seemed at first a bit reluctant, but Ichigo assured her it was okay, and Kensei spent the next half hour testing both children, one-on-one and two-on-one, with Love refereeing. Kensei demanded that the two children give their best performance by the intensity with which he engaged them. Tatsuki seemed determined to succeed for her own reasons, and he knew Ichigo wanted to be strong to protect his sisters. For little kids who had been studying karate for only a few years, they were pretty impressive. Not nearly impressive enough to beat him, but still. The two children took the consequent yelled lecture and critique of their loss with fiery resolve.

Before Kensei entered the Shoten to visit Yuzu, with Love following to read to Karin, he heard Tatsuki say, "He might be even better than sensei! How often does he show up here?"

* * *

"See, to get a more powerful kick, you have to move your leg like _this_ ," Mashiro demonstrated, the soccer ball she'd kicked almost tearing through the net Urahara had set up for Karin once he'd discovered that she had an affinity for soccer.

Karin watched with stars in her eyes, completely taken with the display. "Show me again! I want to learn to be as great as you one day!"

Mashiro squealed and glomped the girl. "I'm sure you'll be awesome someday!" she cooed.

Meanwhile, Rose was helping Ichigo and Yuzu inside the Shoten with their reiatsu control. "Excellent job, Yuzu," he said as her reiatsu warped the air in front of her, not quite coalescing into a ball but not completely ineffective either. Yuzu had long passed the point where she could see spirits without aid, to be able to use reiatsu in such a way. Ichigo, meanwhile, had the opposite problem – too much power (for a Human) and not enough control, so Rose had him working on a simple exercise to help with finesse. To keep the children motivated, he'd brought his guitar and would play a simple lyrical melody every time they were able to successfully complete the exercise to his satisfaction.

Eventually, Rose, Ichigo, and Yuzu were joined by Jinta and Ururu, who were also curious about how to develop their powers (though Ururu seemed to already have experience, for some reason). The competition between Jinta and Ichigo kept things lively.

* * *

"I didn't know you could cook, Hiyori-san!" Yuzu exclaimed as she watched Hiyori whip up a snack from the stool Urahara had gotten ahold of specifically so Yuzu could reach the counter. "Can you show me what you do? Rose-san is great, but it's good to learn from more than one person, you know?"

"Uh—" Hiyori started, fully intent on denying Yuzu because she wasn't the best of cooks, but Yuzu was determined to bond with the cantankerous Vizard and Hiyori stood no chance.

* * *

"They're in back," Urahara said without looking up. Kensei winced, the practiced excuse dying in his mouth. The Vizards were all getting too predictable, if Urahara knew that they visited the Shoten more for the Kurosaki kids than for anything related to the Soul Society.

"Thank you, Urahara-san," Hachi said, bowing slightly, before entering the home and being accosted by two excited young girls.

"Hachi-san! Hachi-san! Are you going to show us more kido?" Karin asked excitedly. Neither twin had been deemed old enough to begin learning kido like Ichigo, but they still enjoyed demonstrations nonetheless.

"Kensei-san! I thought I sensed you!" Yuzu said, tugging Kensei farther into the house. "Will you help me with the laundry? After Hachi-san's done, of course."

How could Kensei say no to a face like that?

* * *

"Oh nooooooooooo! I can't believe we missed it!" Shinji moaned. Lisa looked genuinely distressed as Kisuke and Tessai cleaned up the remnants of the party they'd thrown to celebrate the twins' sixth birthday. "Kisuke! Why didn't ya tell us Yuzu and Karin had a birthday comin' up?"

Shinigami didn't really celebrate birthdays simply because many had come from the Human world and hadn't actually been born. But thanks to their century of experience in the World of the Living, the Vizards were well aware that birthdays were particularly important to Human children.

"Slipped my mind. Sorry!" Kisuke said cheerfully, whipping out his fan. "I'm sure the girls would be happy to see you, though."

"We can't face them like this!" Lisa protested.

An idea popped into Shinji's mind. "Lisa! Ya distract them! I'll be right back!" Shinji ordered, glad he'd thought to bring along his wallet. He shunpoed to the nearest toy store, found the latest Super Sentai action figures, wrapped them in the store's gift section, hastily left the correct amount of money on a counter (because he wasn't in a gigai and didn't have time to go back to the warehouse to get it or the other Vizards because _this was a crisis_ and he couldn't afford to dawdle), and returned to the Shoten just in time to hear Lisa stammer through some excuse about why they hadn't been able to make it. From the sounds of things, she was blaming Kisuke.

"I heard ya girls had a birthday!" Shinji said jovially as he entered the store, sweating under the accusing gaze of Karin. He held out the present to the girls as a peace offering. "Here. We, uh, got ya something."

Shinji noticed Ichigo looking unimpressed as he handed off the gift to Yuzu, who was determined to be cheerful. The kids had obviously been hurt by the Vizards' absence. How had Human children gotten so attached to a bunch of part-Hollow ex-Shinigami exiles? And why had they allowed it in the first place? It was probably all Kisuke's fault.

Yuzu tore apart the wrapping paper to get at the gift inside, Karin hovering over her shoulder. When they saw the Super Sentai figures, though, instead of brightening up like Shinji and Lisa hoped they would, they looked confused and a little downcast.

Shinji panicked as Lisa sent him a look of death. He hadn't exactly gotten ahold of the toys legally so he couldn't return them. What was wrong with what he'd picked out, anyway?

"Thank you, Shinji-san," Yuzu said tremulously.

"What's wrong?" Lisa asked gently, kneeling to see what Shinji had chosen.

"Oh, Yoruichi-san got us these exact figures," Karin explained. "It's kind of funny you got the same thing."

Shinji made a distressed noise and sat on the ground, defeated. Of course he'd manage to screw it up. Yuzu walked over and patted him on the knee.

"It's okay, Shinji-san," she said, her smile more genuine this time. "You didn't know about our birthday in the first place, and you tried to fix it when you found out. That's enough for me."

…How did a little six-year-old show more maturity and insight than some of the centuries-old Shinigami Shinji had known? He couldn't help but being impressed. The Kurosaki siblings were truly remarkable. Thinking back to that first meeting with Ichigo and all the memorable encounters since, was it truly any wonder that the Vizards had been drawn in?

* * *

Mashiro chattered while Love directed Ichigo and Yuzu to mop the floors. Some parts of the Shoten needed a good cleaning – like the storeroom – and Yuzu had volunteered to clean, and Ichigo had been dragged into helping, as well. Love and Mashiro had found them buried up to their elbows in dust and cleaning agents and decided to keep them company when they came to visit. While perhaps not the most entertaining of afternoons, it was soothing and quiet (though with Mashiro, the latter was always debatable).

* * *

"It's not just your kicks that you need to work on. Footwork is also very important in soccer," Lisa instructed, bouncing a soccer ball lazily on her knee while Karin watched, enraptured by the Vizard's dexterity and balance.

"Mashiro's shown me some things," Karin said as Lisa passed her the ball.

Lisa snorted. "Mashiro's kicks are legendary – and she has some pretty good footwork to back it up, too – but I bet she's just been teaching you how to kick the ball hard and far, yes?"

"Er…"

Lisa shook her head. "Not good enough. I want you to _destroy_ the competition, understand?"

"Hey, how come she gets special treatment? I want to learn, too!" Jinta proclaimed, having quietly wandered outside and spied the lesson.

"Who's this again?" Lisa wondered disinterestedly.

Karin sighed and braced herself for the oncoming explosion. She'd have to get those lessons from Lisa later, it seemed.

* * *

"So just how strong are you guys?" Ichigo wondered one day once Kisuke, Shinji, Rose, and Kensei had emerged from sharing Soul Society gossip in the living room of the Shoten.

"Plenty strong," Shinji grinned widely, ruffling Ichigo's hair fondly. It was a testament to how much Ichigo had taken to Shinji that he didn't complain about the affectionate act. (It was also a testament to how deeply invested Shinji was with the Kurosakis now against better judgment, especially Ichigo, but Shinji tended to ignore that.)

"Can I see?" Ichigo asked, eyes sparkling excitedly.

Shinji opened his mouth to immediately deny the kid – they were way beyond a level that Ichigo would even be able to appreciate, and their spars tended to be pretty devastating to the surroundings (and therefore dangerous to Ichigo) – before stopping. If they held back by a lot, and if Kisuke let them use the training grounds under the store (which he should)…

No shikai. Definitely no bankai. And absolutely, under no circumstances, Hollow mask. For one, it was complete overkill. For two, there was no need to let the kids know that their closest adult friends were part monster, the same kind that had killed their parents. What if they didn't want to see the Vizards anymore? They were all too attached to the kids by this point, and a rejection like that would definitely hurt. Shinji frowned at the depressing thought before pushing it aside for later contemplation. Right now, he had to figure out if sparring in front of Ichigo was a good idea.

…Why not? Captains had occasionally held demonstrations of their might for their subordinates. So long as one of the Vizards hung back to protect Ichigo from any fallout, it should be fine.

"Hey, Rose," he said, smirking. "How 'bout a quick match down in the training grounds for Ichigo?"

Rose frowned thoughtfully, no doubt weighing the similar concerns Shinji had had and glancing at Kensei, who didn't seem as displeased as he'd expected for being relegated to babysitter. "Sure," he eventually said smoothly. "Rules?"

"No releasin' anything. Otherwise, anything goes. Just make sure Ichigo can see ya," Shinji said. "Kisuke! Can we use your training grounds for a bit?"

"Of course," Kisuke piped up, looking highly amused. "I'll even referee." Shinji gave him a quick stink-eye to convey just how unimpressed he was with being Kisuke's entertainment. If it really came down to it, it was all the shopkeeper's fault they'd been introduced to the Kurosakis and had therefore gotten so attached, anyway.

"Okay, kiddo," Kensei said, tucking Ichigo under a muscled arm. "Hang on tight."

They jumped through the trapdoor to the basement training room (which Shinji knew Ichigo and his sisters couldn't access on their own, for their own safety) and landed in a swirl of dust. Kensei put Ichigo on the rocky ground while Rose and Shinji retreated some distance away, readying their zanpakuto, which they always brought with them in spirit form wherever they went. Shinji glanced at Ichigo, who looked like he was vibrating in his excitement.

Both combatants slid into a ready stance and then, at a silent signal, charged at each other. Their zanpakuto collided with a clang and, with that opening move, they were off, putting their zanjutsu skills to good use. It was Rose who used the first kido spell, calling out a Shakkaho, but it was Shinji who first incorporated hakuda, sweeping down low with a foot to kick Rose's legs out from under him. On an unspoken agreement, neither used shunpo, because someone at Ichigo's level wouldn't be able to see them at all if they did, and that would defeat the point of this exercise. They were careful to keep their attacks pointed away from Ichigo, but whenever it was unavoidable that some kido spell or something was aimed in the boy's direction, Kensei would either pull Ichigo out of the way or block.

Shinji kept an eye on Ichigo whenever he could during the spar, which wasn't too hard because neither combatant was really pushing themselves hard. Ichigo was completely enamored with the performance, a rare smile flitting across his lips as he watched.

An hour later, Shinji called for the demonstration to stop. Since neither Rose nor Shinji had been going full-out, they weren't really injured – a little bit of light scorching from a kido spell here, a patch of dusty clothing there from whenever they had to take a tumble. Rose immediately started looking over his clothes, grumbling softly at the stains, while Shinji returned to Kisuke, Kensei, and Ichigo (who seemed mightily disappointed that the fight was over).

"That was awesome!" Ichigo exclaimed once Shinji had approached. "I want to be that strong someday!"

Shinji snorted. "Kid, I have no doubt that one day, you'll be even stronger than that."

Ichigo nodded, determination settling into his gaze. "Can I start learning to swordfight like you?"

Shinji stroked his chin thoughtfully. His job as a bartender kept him busy most nights, and Ichigo was typically occupied during the day. They wouldn't be able to train very often… and much as he liked the kid, Shinji wasn't sure if he wanted to take on a student. Kisuke or Tessai could teach him, though. But when he looked over at Kisuke, the shopkeeper shook his head. Still too soon, then. Maybe once Ichigo hit double digits he could start learning? He'd have to ask Kisuke.

"Sorry, kid," he said out loud. "Maybe once you're older."

Ichigo scowled and looked ready to argue, but Shinji cut him off before he could get started. "No buts. I know ya want ta, but you're not ready yet," he said firmly.

Ichigo reluctantly nodded a moment later. "Fine," he said sullenly.

A little later, before Shinji could join Kensei (who was again holding Ichigo) and Rose on the ladder up to the shop, Kisuke tugged him aside. "He really respects you, you know. He would have been arguing with me for hours," the shopkeeper said in an undertone.

"He's a good kid," Shinji replied absentmindedly. "So are the girls."

"Perhaps they would be happier with you than they are with me," Kisuke said lightly. "My home is getting a bit crowded."

Shinji snorted, not taking the suggestion seriously at all.

* * *

"And this kana says…"

"Sa," Lisa replied, her fingers trailing over Karin's kana homework. Love was sitting on the floor in the doorway, waiting patiently for Lisa and Karin to finish so he could share the latest issue of Shonen Jump with Karin.

Karin snuggled into Lisa's side, much like Nanao-chan had. Lisa felt a pang of sadness at the thought of the little girl she'd bonded with a century ago, but the ache… it wasn't as bad as the first time she'd felt it. Maybe being around Karin was a good thing for her.

In a good mood, Lisa quickly finished helping Karin with her homework before beckoning Love over. She directed him to sit against the wall, made sure Karin was cozy on one side of Love and then sat on the other side. Maybe she hadn't completely caught up with Naruto's escapades yet, but it would still be fun to spend time with her favorite Kurosaki.

* * *

"Ah, Hiyori-san, welcome. What can I do for you today?" Tessai asked, eyeing the short Vizard.

Hiyori expanded her senses and while it seemed the two other brats Urahara had taken in were in the back, the Kurosakis (who should have been home from school because it was a weekend) and Urahara himself were nowhere to be found. Which automatically put her in a foul mood, because she had the day off from work, and she'd so been looking forward to pounding Ichigo into the ground in training. And maybe helping the little girls with some housework, because she was nice like that.

Frowning, Hiyori said, "The kids and Urahara. Where'd they go?"

Tessai adjusted his glasses. "Ah, well, they're not here. I'm sorry."

"Where are they?" Hiyori asked, trying to keep a lid on her temper for the deflection.

"I can't tell you. The Kurosakis wanted to be alone today but needed a chaperone, so Kisuke took them."

"So what's the occasion?" Hiyori needled.

Tessai's features took on a solemn cast. "Today is the one-year anniversary of their parents' death."

"Oh," Hiyori said, her annoyance dissipating. They were probably all at one of the cemeteries, mourning. Hiyori, for all her brusqueness, knew better than to interrupt something like that, so she turned to leave. "Tell them I came by, would ya?"

She'd have to tell the others to stop by if they could. They were better at cheering people up than she was. And they seemed closer to the kids than she was, too.

A week passed, and Hiyori knew all the other Vizards save for her had gone to the store to visit the Kurosakis. Shinji had to snap Ichigo out of another funk and the other Vizards' shirts came home wet from tears, but overall it seemed the visits were appreciated.

"You know, the kids were asking after you last time I visited," Lisa said quietly during dinner that evening.

Hiyori's head snapped up. They wanted… her? But she knew she wasn't the greatest company and probably set a bad example, swearing and violent as she was. So why?

"Missed you, Hiyori-san," Yuzu said the next day when Hiyori visited, the girl's face buried in her shirt. Since there was no one else around to see her being emotional, Hiyori hugged Yuzu back. So she was cherished just as much as the other Vizards despite all her flaws?

Stupid Humans. She hated all of them and their oversentimentality. (Except maybe for the Kurosakis. She couldn't lie to herself that badly.)

* * *

"Hey, is Kensei-san done playing with Ichigo and Tatsu-whatever yet?" Jinta huffed impatiently.

"It's Tatsuki, Jinta," Ururu said timidly.

"And they're not playing, they're learning to fight!" Karin added.

"Like I care!" Jinta scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Now, now, be patient. I'm sure they'll be done with their lesson soon," Rose said diplomatically. "We'll get to Karakura Superheroes soon enough."

It was probably a good thing Hiyori hadn't run into Jinta recently, Rose thought to himself as he watched Jinta argue with Karin. The last time the two foul-tempered individuals were in the same vicinity as each other was… explosive. If Rose squinted, he could still see a little superficial damage on one of the walls. It wasn't that he disliked either Hiyori or Jinta – he was easy-going by nature and he tended to not fall in the way of either's warpath – it was just that they didn't get along well. Which was kind of an understatement.

"How's school going?" Rose asked Yuzu to pass the time.

Instead of brightening at the attention, like he'd thought – Yuzu was generally a happy person by nature, the aftermath of her parents' deaths notwithstanding – her eyes dimmed and, in a less than enthusiastic voice, she said, "It's okay, I guess."

Rose raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh? I thought it was going well. Are you having problems with the schoolwork? Or are you being bullied?"

Yuzu shook her head. "No. We're… mostly ignored." Which, for a highly social person like Yuzu, had to be difficult to live with. "I think Karin will make some friends if she keeps playing soccer, but it's just… lonely. I wish we could be homeschooled like Jinta and Ururu, but tou-chan and kaa-chan wouldn't want that," Yuzu finished, surprisingly candid about her dead parents.

Rose frowned thoughtfully. "Do you know why they're treating you this way?"

Yuzu nodded sadly. "Karin and I… we're different from the other kids. It's like they have nothing to worry about, while I…"

Rose understood what she was trying to say. She knew about how the afterlife was more of a dangerous existence than a peaceful one, and because of her higher than average spirit energy, she could be a target for a Hollow. Rose could understand why the Kurosaki parents hadn't wanted their children involved with the spirit world – it forced them to mature faster than their peers. Still, from the sounds of things, Ichigo had been dying on the inside when Shinji found him, and not putting a stop to it would have ultimately led to nothing good.

Telling the Kurosaki kids about the spirit world was a balance between risk and reward, the risk being the physical danger and the reward being improved mental health. He was pretty sure Ichigo didn't mind the risk because the reward had helped him a lot, but his sisters were different – grieving but not crushed under guilt. Did they resent Shinji and the other Vizards for butting into their lives and bringing danger?

Before Rose could take that depressing train of thought further, Yuzu continued, "But I have you, and Kensei-san, and Hachi-san, and all your other friends. It makes up for it, mostly."

Rose's eyes widened. He'd known that he was attached to the kids, and so were the others – but he hadn't realized it had been reciprocated. Though perhaps he shouldn't have been as surprised, because children did tend to become attached to people who treated them kindly.

But they didn't even know the worst part about the Vizards – that they were part monster, like the Hollow that killed their parents. It would probably come out one day in some dramatic, tragic fashion, and then the kids would undoubtedly hate them.

It would probably be best to just cut ties with them before anything like that happened. But staring at Yuzu's little cherubic face, so open and trusting, Rose couldn't help but be selfish. They'd been handed a shitty lot a century ago, and happiness had been fleeting in that time. Why couldn't they continue associating with the Kurosakis for the time being when he'd seen both himself and his fellow Vizards noticeably happier?

But was it fair to the Kurosakis that they had a bunch of old, exiled Shinigami for company instead of other Humans? How could the Vizards justify interacting with the Kurosakis when it might not be the best thing for the kids?

This wasn't the first time these kinds of doubts had come up in his mind and in discussion with the other Vizards, but it was still upsetting every time they appeared. But now, Rose was also worried it would be too late to gracefully withdraw from the Kurosaki kids' lives without causing a large disturbance.

"Rose-san, are you okay? You look upset," Yuzu said, craning her head up to examine his face.

Rose smiled, even through the tumultuous turn his thoughts had taken. Best not to let Yuzu know he was having problems with how continued relations with the Kurosakis would fare in the future. "I'm fine. Why don't we go set up for when Kensei comes? I'm sure Karakura White would appreciate it."

* * *

"Excellent work, Ichigo," Shinji praised as Ichigo wiped sweat from his face and panted. They'd just finished a hand-to-hand sparring session to get Ichigo used to fighting bigger opponents than himself. Of course, Shinji didn't tower over the boy like Rose did or muscle his way through things like Kensei did, but it was still helpful training.

Shinji ignored the little voice in his head that pointed out that it seemed like he was taking on Ichigo as a student anyway, despite his misgivings. He wasn't _really_ teaching the kid, just… giving him a few pointers.

For a Human child, Ichigo really was learning hand-to-hand combat quickly, and from what he'd seen earlier, he'd moved on to Bakudo #3 and Bakudo #4 since finally mastering Bakudo #2. His reiatsu control could still use some work, though. Ichigo was slower than the average Shinigami recruit at picking up things, kido especially, but that could be chalked up to his age and relative youth, because children at a similar developmental stage (below seventy-five years old) in the Soul Society didn't pick up things nearly as quickly as Ichigo did.

Shinji couldn't wait to see what he could do with a sword. Kisuke had grudgingly agreed that Ichigo could have a wooden sword to practice with for his next birthday – which was coming up soon. He knew the other Vizards were anticipating it, too, and had already asked for time off from work to help Ichigo celebrate. There would be no disaster like there had been with the twins' birthday.

"Thanks, Shinji," Ichigo said. Shinji had finally gotten him to stop calling them all by an honorific a little while ago.

"How are your sisters? I haven't seen them today," Shinji said. He could sense the twins back in the Shoten, sleeping. His favorite may have been Ichigo, but that didn't mean he wasn't fond of Yuzu and Karin. The former was just so cute and sweet, and the latter was so much like her brother. (It made him miss his own family, sometimes. It had been over a century, but he still wondered how they were doing, even if they hadn't been able to do anything with regards to the Hollowfication.)

"They've been good. They're learning their colors now," Ichigo said, and from there, the conversation delved into what the girls and Ichigo had been doing at school and what the Vizards had been doing at their jobs. Shinji told a humorous story about something that had happened at the construction site Hiyori worked at that had Ichigo snickering and was in turn regaled with a tale of how the twins' physical education was going – or, namely, how terrifying Karin was turning out to be in that arena.

Shinji left the Shoten with a genuine smile on his face, leaving Ichigo to take a shower and work on his homework, but the grin soon dimmed as he remembered what had been happening back at the warehouse.

Rose had been more agitated recently about their association with Kisuke's adoptees, maybe because he'd noticed that the relationship between the Vizards and the Kurosakis ran a bit too deep to be appropriate for centuries-old Shinigami and less-than-a-decade-old Human kids, even though it had developed slowly and naturally. Shinji had to admit that Rose raised valid points. Maybe Kisuke would be able to keep them safe, out of the spirit world's conflicts, but the Vizards would be right at the center of whatever Aizen was doing when he finally made his move. It was, frankly, dangerous for them to continue associating with the kids, and it would probably be best for both parties if they broke contact. But leaving the Kurosakis alone… Maybe the Vizards could have left earlier, but both parties were too attached to each other by this point, too reliant on the other for emotional stability. And Shinji couldn't blame Kisuke for the predicament, not when Shinji had been the one to talk to Ichigo in the first place.

He'd have to talk things over with everyone.

* * *

Well, days later, nothing had been resolved because everyone was just too _attached_ , and since everyone had asked for the time off, anyway, all the Vizards found themselves scattered throughout Kisuke's home, which had been decorated top to bottom with streamers and confetti, to celebrate Ichigo's birthday. The boy in question seemed to be in awe that they were all visiting at once, just for him. Yuzu and Karin were taking advantage of their presence, too, and seemed to enjoy interacting with Kensei, Mashiro, and Lisa while Rose and Love observed. Poor Hachi, large as he was, could only watch the proceedings from another room. Hiyori hounded her former captain, even through the cutting and distribution of the cake (which was a delicious vanilla, though Shinji would have been amused if it had been strawberry). Then it was time for presents.

All the Vizards had pooled together to get Ichigo's present: a bokken sized just right for the new ten-year-old. Ichigo was the most excited Shinji had ever seen him, determined to start training with it right away.

Kisuke, for his part, promised to start teaching Ichigo Hado spells. "You're old enough to start learning offensive spells, so long as you use them responsibly," he said.

"You're still allowed to be a kid, you know, responsibility aside," Yoruichi said as Ichigo stared wide-eyed at the GameBoy Color (from Tessai) and the Pokémon Gold cartridge (from Yoruichi) in his hands. "You don't have to spend all your time on schoolwork and training."

Jinta and Ururu got him candy from the shop – it wasn't like they had a wide range of options to choose from – and the twins got Ichigo a new helmet for karate.

Finally, there was an expansive, no holds barred, free-for-all session of Karakura Superheroes – Yuzu and Karin must have asked Ichigo to include it in the proceedings – in which the goal was to slay as many Hollows as possible. There were so many people it was a little difficult, but it was fun all the same.

Jinta and Ururu were put to bed early (the former protesting that the twins got to stay up later, but since it was a special day for their brother they were allowed to stay up), and the Vizards started to disperse, Lisa, Love, Hiyori, and Hachi heading home while Kensei and Rose stayed behind to help clean up. Mashiro kept Karin occupied while Ichigo tried to find a quiet space to start playing his new game. Shinji would have headed home, too, except he was drafted by Yuzu to help return all the twins' plushies to their room.

Shinji arranged the last stuffed animal – a unicorn – in its proper place, according to Yuzu, when Yuzu came up beside him and leaned into him. Since it was Yuzu, Shinji supposed he could allow it.

"Thanks for your help, Shinji-san," Yuzu said.

"Of course, darlin'," he replied.

Yuzu puffed out her cheeks. She'd been a bit distracted all evening, ever since the Vizards had all shown up. "Seeing all you guys together was pretty cool," she admitted.

Shinji chuckled. "Well, we are a pretty cool group."

"You are. …You know, Shinji-san, Urahara-san is fine – there's nothing wrong with him – but it would have been nice if you and the others had adopted us instead of him," Yuzu said wistfully.

It was nothing but idle speculation, but hearing those words from Yuzu after Kisuke had hinted his house was getting crowded… Shinji knew he and the other Vizards were completely fucked.

* * *

A/N:

So I'm an incurable idiot and in my excitement to post forgot to give proper credit where credit is due last chapter. The idea for the Vizards adopting the Kurosakis comes from the tumblr user bleachlists. Thanks to her for allowing me to use this idea!

For those of you who were wondering, this takes place over about a year.

Not a lot of action this chapter, just lots of fluff. Action will be coming in later chapters. And there were Vizards. So many nerdy Vizards and so many scenes and ARGH.

So making kido spells is a lot harder than I thought and, to my dismay, I will probably have to do it again. For those of you who are wondering, the kanji for bou is 妨, which can mean disturb, prevent, hamper, hinder, or obstruct. If I had to choose one for an English translation… I'd choose hinder. That sounds like a good spell name, doesn't it? Way of Binding #2: Hinder! There were a couple other kanji to choose from, but I liked bou the best.

Answering some questions: this will be a multi-chapter story, not a series of oneshots, but it kind of starts out as a series of oneshots. Also, this _is_ crossposted on both AO3 and ff . net.


	3. Distilled Motives

Shinji was glad everyone had the foresight to request time off both for the evening of Ichigo's birthday party and for the morning after, despite the chances of having alcoholic drinks (and therefore hangovers) at Ichigo's party being next to nil, because it meant that when the latter half of the group got home, the others were still awake. Loudly awake, in the case of Love and Hiyori, who were fighting over the TV remote. Shinji rubbed his eyes tiredly before flash stepping over to the TV and unplugging it.

"Hell was that for, baldy?!" Hiyori barked, jumping up from the ratty but comfy couch situated in front of the TV. Shinji shook his head without saying a word before he flared his reiatsu – just enough to call attention – and whistled sharply.

In the beginning, there hadn't been a discussion or vote on who would lead their little band of misfits. They _had_ needed a leader – someone who could put the strengths of each person to best use, someone to coordinate the group in the middle of a fight, someone to be a notch above the others because they'd all been leaders in their own rights as Shinigami officers, and they couldn't constantly be struggling against each other in decisions that affected the whole group. They'd found out early on that if they fractured, they'd be sunk, both physically and mentally.

Shinji had stepped into the leadership role without conflict. He was the strongest and most experienced of the Vizards, the longest-serving captain among them with the greatest quantity of reiryoku (though not by much, and this power translated to abilities that were more illusory and precise in nature rather than destructive). He was crafty and cunning, more than willing to fight dirty if it meant keeping the people under his protection safe. As clever as he was, he caught details others often missed – like Aizen's shady nature.

Lisa had somehow wound up as his unofficial second-in-command, despite the presence of three other ex-captains, possibly because she'd been Kyoraku's lieutenant and therefore, by necessity, could put up with a lot of bullshit (at least better than Love, who was the other unofficial candidate). An outsider's first impression would be that Hiyori was the second-in-command, probably because of her tendency to get into petty brawls with Shinji and to browbeat him into submission. But on closer observation, the decisions Hiyori overrode Shinji on were trivial matters – and if Hiyori overstepped, Shinji had no qualms reasserting himself.

Love straightened from where he'd been slouching on the couch, while Kensei, Rose, and Mashiro stopped on the way to their living quarters, faces serious. Hachi emerged from a corner where he'd been meditating, and Lisa flashed to stand near Shinji, asking, "Where's the fire?"

"No fires. We just need ta have a discussion," Shinji replied, leaning against the couch.

"About the Kurosaki children?" Rose guessed, gaze troubled.

"Yeah. We've all been havin' little one-on-one chats with each other, an' it's about time ta reach a consensus. Will we stick around? _Can_ we stick around without fuckin' 'em up?"

"You're pushing the issue earlier than I was expecting," Lisa noted, eyes sharp. "Did something happen?"

Shinji ran a hand through his hair in agitation. "Yuzu-chan said that she wished we had adopted her an' her siblings instead o' Kisuke."

The other Vizards fell deathly still as the implications started sinking in. Shinji had been preoccupied with the significance of it, himself, during his return to the warehouse. The kids were far, _far_ too attached to the Vizards for their own good, if they thought centuries-old, undead monsters condemned by a powerful government and dedicated to bringing down a madman could possibly be good caretakers. (Though, to be fair, it wasn't as though the children really knew any of that.)

And, damnit, the connection ran both ways. It should have been easy to permanently walk out of the Kurosakis' lives, but Shinji's heart ached just contemplating it. He'd caught himself musing, instead, of how the children could be kept safe and out of Aizen's or Soul Society's reach… and even of how the warehouse could be modified to suit their needs.

Mashiro was the first to break the silence. "Let's do it! Kagakusha*-san can take care of the Human stuff – I mean, he's got the kids now, and he can make the papers go through so we're not hounded by, like, tax collectors or something–"

"I don't think that's how tax collectors work," Hachi responded automatically, seeming a bit dazed.

"–and we could totally build some monkey bars here, because kids need monkey bars and Kensei's always told me no when I've asked him and we can play Karakura Superheroes all the time–"

"Wait, are we seriously considering adopting a few Human kids when we haven't even decided if we should continue interacting with them?!" Rose exclaimed in astonishment.

Well, Shinji hadn't exactly expected the conversation to go in this direction – he'd used Yuzu's comment to illustrate how the children had bonded to them, rather than a suggestion – but he didn't mind this, either. His vague ideas for a child-friendly warehouse that he'd cooked up earlier came to mind. Except…

"Yeah! I mean, I _guess_ they're okay for Humans, but what happens if Aizen shows up and we lose our chance to gut him because we're too busy protecting them?" Hiyori added.

"If I had to choose between the children and killing Aizen… I don't know what I'd choose. That's dangerous," Kensei said, looking as though he hated the words coming from his mouth.

"We can't afford the split priorities," Love summed up defeatedly.

And wasn't that the crux of the matter? All of the previous discussions had skirted around the issue of Sousuke Aizen, because there was still that imagined distance – removed by Yuzu's adoption comment – between the Vizards and the Kurosakis that would keep the latter firmly separated from the conflict. Because no matter how much it absolutely sucked, destroying Aizen and his disastrous plans to upset the balance of life and death _had_ to come first. All the billions of souls in the worlds weren't worth the three Kurosakis, no matter how nauseating it was to admit it.

"What about them? Would they be able to accept it if we just… vanished?" Hachi asked, his serene 'I'm really upset but I don't want to show it' mask firmly in place.

"They're humans, and they're young. They'll adapt. Or, better, forget about us," Lisa murmured.

"I don't wanna make Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan cry!" Mashiro burst out, looking as though she was close to crying, herself.

The warm images of the warehouse modified for the children faded from Shinji's mind. "Would _we_ be okay if we cut contact?" Shinji asked quietly, already knowing the answer and hating himself for it.

"We have to consider what's best for them, first," Rose replied, eyes glassy. "We can endure."

"Urahara-san might be creepy, but his position is certainly more stable and secure than ours. He'll be able to protect them better," Love added, sounding as though he was trying to convince himself as much as everyone else.

Mashiro's voice wobbled. "But… I don't… they… we can't see them at all? We can't take them in?"

Hiyori laughed bitterly, her voice like broken glass. "Oh, come on! Even if we could just ignore the whole Aizen problem, and the whole 'standing execution orders from Soul Society' thing, what do you think would happen when they find out we're part Hollow? We couldn't hide it, not if they were living with us. We're monsters, just like the one that killed their parents!"

Mashiro flinched like she'd been physically struck, then buried her face in her hands and started to cry. Rose was biting his lip to avoid the same, while Hachi could have been a carved statue for all the life he was showing. The others looked varying degrees of nauseous and devastated, much like Shinji himself.

"So… we're in agreement then?" Shinji said heavily. "Ta cease contact with the Kurosaki children?"

One by one, each of the others nodded, even Mashiro, who was sobbing quietly. Shinji hadn't seen the others so dispirited since they'd woken after the Hollowfication and Urahara had solemnly explained what had happened to their souls and their lives.

It was for the best, Shinji told himself. They'd all agreed on it. But that didn't stop his heart from feeling like it was breaking.

* * *

"Urahara-san?" Yuzu was looking up at Kisuke with too-large eyes full of worry. "Do you know where Mashiro-san and Rose-san and them are? Where did they go? Are they okay?"

Kisuke sighed, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. As far as he knew, nothing had happened to the Vizards. They were completely hidden behind kido barriers at their warehouse, but when they were out running errands or working, they only had their own reiatsu-control skills to hide them – which, given that they'd been on the run for a century, were rather impressive, but not enough to hide everything. Usually, the Vizards tried to keep their signatures Human-strength to blend in with other Humans. Now, trying to locate a singular Human-level signature was beyond most Shinigami, but Kisuke was not most, and he had machines to help him out, too. He'd been able to locate all of the Vizards over the past few days, and they all seemed to be in good physical health.

"I'm not sure where they are, but I'm pretty sure they're okay. No need to worry, Yuzu-chan," Kisuke said before smiling down at her and ruffling her hair.

Yuzu was a little mollified by the affection, but was still frowning. "We didn't scare them off, did we? Did we do something wrong? Did _I_ do something wrong? Have they forgotten us?" She began to wring her hands, nervous and distressed.

"Of course not!" Kisuke lied easily, keeping his guesses about the Vizards' mental states and decisions to himself. "They're probably just busy, and they definitely haven't forgotten you. I'm sure they'll be back soon."

Yuzu nodded, visibly subdued. She and her siblings had been growing quieter the longer the Vizards stayed away, though Ichigo's mood was more from irritation than Yuzu's worry or Karin's hurt. Ururu and Jinta did their best to cheer up the Kurosakis, but Ururu couldn't provide enough emotional support (tragic, but unsurprising, given her background), and Jinta would be aggressive and insulting, which would lead to Tessai breaking up a fight. The most successful was Tessai, who was teaching Yuzu about the tradition of tea-making and the tea ceremony, but that didn't help her siblings, who didn't have the patience to sit and learn the subtle complexities of the art. Kisuke hoped that the children didn't regress to the pitiful states they'd been in after their parents had died.

* * *

Normally, if Love was fooling around the kitchen, looking for a snack, he'd be humming an off-key tune, partially because it was fun but mostly to irritate Rose in case Love ran into him, because Rose would glower at him, grumble under his breath, or go on a very technical diatribe about how he was butchering music, depending on the day. But Love just didn't feel like it today as he rummaged through the fridge, grimacing when he came upon a small tub of what used to be curry. He finally found a single yoghurt and extracted it, tossing the tub of ex-curry in the sink for whoever had dish duty for the week to deal with and closing the refrigerator door.

Love stopped in place, staring at the one decoration on the fridge: the picture of all the Vizards and Kurosakis together, hand-drawn by Yuzu and Karin. Love remembered when Rose had first shown it to him and the others, feeling awed and grateful and so touched that there was a lump in his throat. There had been a small argument over where to put it, which Lisa solved by returning from work with a small packet of colorful magnets to hang the drawing on the fridge. The drawing had been a symbol of happiness. Now, it was another reminder of what they'd lost or had to give up due to their circumstances.

Other objects with emotional value had been affected, too. The TV hadn't been turned on once since Ichigo's party to avoid the shows they'd watched with the children, and Love could barely get through his serialized manga nowadays without becoming depressed by the lack of Karin's presence. He'd noticed it in others, too – Rose producing less tasty meals when it was his turn to cook; Kensei, for some reason, staring forlornly at a broom before yelling and snapping it in half…

Love turned his back on the picture and trudged back out to the main floor of the warehouse, where Kensei, Hiyori, and Lisa were sprawled over their scant furniture. Love didn't want to necessarily say their behavior was _moping_ , per se, but… yeah, it was moping. _Everyone_ was feeling the ache of their decision. Even Love.

He sat in an old, broken armchair without saying a word, quietly nodding in greeting to the others before peeling the yoghurt's cover back in one smooth motion. Instantly, he was hit with horrible, nauseating smell strong enough to make his eyes water. Belatedly, he realized that the carton he'd grabbed – the only one he'd found, shoved back behind the ex-curry, which should have been a giant warning sign right there – was over a year out of date.

The others gagged as the smell hit them, too. Lisa choked, "Fuck, get that outta here, Love!"

Love needed no more prompting, flash stepping beyond the barrier and depositing the carton into a trash can all the way down the block. He was back within the confines of the barrier the next blink.

Giving up on a snack, Love plopped back down in the armchair, groaning. "Sorry about that, guys." Man, if he was missing clues that obvious about a carton of yoghurt, how badly were his battle instincts and reflexes affected? _Pathetic_ , his zanpakuto Tengumaru hissed in his head, and Love had to agree.

"You better be," Hiyori said, baring her elongated canines in a snarl, but her words were without heat and her body language was without heart, and she quickly resumed her previous activity, which seemed to be staring mindlessly at the ceiling. The circles under her eyes were more pronounced than usual.

"Damnit! This is too damn depressing!" Kensei suddenly snarled, slamming a fist on the small coffee table next to his chair and shattering it. "I can't take this-this gloomy _nonsense_ anymore! I'm going to go see them."

Everyone knew who _them_ was. "What's the point of cutting contact if you're just going to break it within days?" Hiyori snapped irritably.

"I'm not going to let them see or sense me, idiot," Kensei snarled. "I can look in on them without them ever knowing I'm there."

"Spying on children? How deviant of you," Lisa drawled, the picture of perfect disinterest, save for her hands clutching her swimsuit magazine hard enough to turn her knuckles white, like she desperately wanted to join Kensei but couldn't bring herself to.

"Can it, you perv! I'm heading out," Kensei declared, jerkily standing before flashing out of sight.

"You didn't go with him," Love said to Lisa, surprised. Normally, she would've jumped at the chance to see something hidden or forbidden.

"You didn't stop him," Lisa shot back. Love had to concede the point; normally, he was a stickler for rules and rule-following (though he'd had to curb the tendency a bit during his century in hiding).

"Stupid Humans," Hiyori mumbled. "I hate that they got us this messed up." But she didn't say that she hated the Kurosakis, either.

* * *

He was hiding himself well, Kisuke thought. Enough to thoroughly trick most Shinigami officers, and more than enough to stay undetected from most of the Shoten's residents. But Kisuke had been Onmitsukido, one of their best, and he was perfectly aware that Muguruma Kensei was ensconced in an empty apartment with a perfect view of the Shoten, cloaked with an impressive, if messy, array of concealing kido that Kisuke and Tessai had taught to Hachi (and only Hachi) to help aid the Vizards lay low. Obviously, he was trying to hide from more than just the Kurosakis. A pity he wasn't aware that Kisuke could spot said spells used in his vicinity and had developed a spell of his own that would allow Kisuke to completely bypass the stealth kido like it wasn't even there.

Kisuke pretended like he hadn't noticed anyone spying on the Shoten or discreetly cast a tricky counterspell, yawning widely. All three Kurosakis were sprawled on the shop floor, concentrating silently on their homework – a stark contrast to the louder, more engaging homework sessions with the Vizards. Tessai was in back with Jinta and Ururu, and Yoruichi had long since wandered off again and was probably back in Soul Society by now.

All Shinigami could sense what other spiritual beings were feeling, to varying degrees, via their reiatsu. This was another skill honed within the Onmitsukido, for to know an opponent's heart was to know exactly where to strike to make it hurt the most. Kisuke didn't even need to sense Kensei's intent to know that he was focused on the Kurosakis. Kisuke was more interested in the feeling of intense longing. It seemed that Kisuke's guesses about the Vizards' absence were correct: they'd made a choice of duty over heart, logic over emotion. To protect the Kurosakis from harm, to protect themselves from more shattering loss, they'd taken the easy way out. A guaranteed but comparatively minor loss, instead of the risk of a loss big enough to possibly destroy them.

 _Of course_ Kisuke had noticed the Vizards bonding with the Kurosaki children and the kids blooming exponentially more in their care. He'd witnessed more genuine smiles and even joy from the Vizards with the Kurosakis over the course of a month than in over a decade in Soul Society, even though they were still stuck in the wrong dimension after almost a century of exile, with monsters created from and permanently stuck in their souls by a madman hellbent on chaos. He'd thought that the Vizards would choose to remain close to the children for emotional stability and wellbeing, or that if they vanished, they would be able to handle the emotional hit and focus on what they needed to do to stay hidden and take down Aizen. …while Kisuke handled the fallout with the more emotionally fragile Kurosakis, probably by eventually doing something reckless and/or stupid, because while he was smart enough to admit that mental and emotional wellbeing were important – especially given the recent explosion of Human study into the subject – he was next to useless in actually maintaining or improving it. Kisuke's hints that the Vizards should choose the former course of action weren't just because of the emotional benefits for all parties.

Except, judging by Kensei's mere presence and emotional state, the comparatively minor loss was still enough to hurt them as badly as it was hurting the Kurosakis… which was _a lot_ , enough to detrimentally affect their behavior for weeks, if not months or even years, judging by their behavior immediately after the Hollowfication. Which, given that Kisuke was predicting that Aizen would make his move within the next decade, could be a Major Problem.

"Fools," Kisuke murmured to himself, tipping his hat to further shadow his eyes.

The unfortunate group of officers had really rubbed off on Kisuke, enough that he would tentatively call them friends instead of mere allies or people he owed a debt to. He wanted to facilitate in the maintenance or improvement of their well-being. And, if said aid also fixed the behavioral issues that could be detrimental to bringing down Aizen… well, he'd be almost obligated to offer his support, wouldn't he?

He'd take matters into his own hands to fix this. He just needed a couple weeks to set everything up…

* * *

 _One week, five days later…_

"Ya know, spyin' on the kids really ain't helpin' ya get over havin' ta leave 'em be," Shinji chided.

"You're here, right next to me, doing the exact same damn thing, dumbass," Kensei said, leveling Shinji with an unimpressed glower.

"Just keepin' ya company," Shinji said loftily.

"You're full of shit, Hirako."

"Are ya really sure this setup's hidden from Kisuke?" Shinji complained, instead of dignifying the last comment with a response.

"I'm fairly sure; he hasn't given any indication he's noticed it," Kensei said.

"Only fairly sure?"

"Shh, you guys! They'll hear us!" Mashiro whisper-yelled.

"This place is soundproofed, idiot," Kensei snapped back, not bothering to lower his voice.

"Meanie!" Mashiro pouted, but instead of sticking her tongue out childishly at Kensei like she normally would have, her eyes were glued to Karin kicking a ball around with Ichigo.

Yuzu, Jinta, and Ururu were inside, but Shinji could still sense them quite clearly. Tessai was out of the shop, and Kisuke seemed to be a distance from the children, maybe in one of his labs.

Shinji felt a bit irritated that Kisuke had left the shop front to a bunch of children – again – but then he squashed it. He was supposed to be letting go of these brats, damnit. Not that he'd been hugely successful at it over the past few weeks. He'd had less trouble shedding himself of his emotional ties to Soul Society, though that might have been helped by Soul Society's utter disregard and betrayal following the Hollowfication incident (and even decades later he still occasionally had bouts of homesickness). Still, he'd barely known these kids for a year; how was it harder to forget them than to forget home? Plus, it really didn't help that the children seemed to be moping, growing more listless by the day.

At least he wasn't the only one having problems. Every single one of the Vizards had visited the little hidey-hole that Kensei had made once they'd found out what he'd done, despite his usual distaste for kido. Even Hachi had staked out the Shoten one afternoon and beefed up the foundation Kensei had laid down.

Without warning, Kisuke's reiatsu spiked in alarm before a bunch of… somethings… suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They seemed weak, but Kisuke's reaction indicated that they were more dangerous than they appeared. Shinji's body thrummed with tension, and he saw Kensei and Mashiro tense from the corner of his eye. Karin and Ichigo seemed aware of the disturbance, too, as they rushed back inside, ball forgotten. Kisuke seemed to be preoccupied in his lab, cutting down a bunch of the things without hesitation, but a few escaped into the front of the house. Surely Kisuke had protections in place to keep the children safe? And they shouldn't interfere, anyway—

There were alarmed shouts, then a shrill scream filled with pain. Shinji jumped through the window and drew his zanpakuto before he even consciously decided to move, Kensei and Mashiro right on his heels.

Inside the Shoten were a number of… floating, gelatinous-looking blobs with no discernible features. One had wrapped around Karin, suspending her above the ground. Her reiatsu flickered like a dying candle, her energy draining. Ichigo looked frantic, having fended one of the blob monsters away from Yuzu with a broom, but with his attention divided, he would be easy pickings for another blob coming from behind. Ururu's reiatsu had sort of gone flat, her expression eerily blank as she effectively worked to annihilate the blobs attacking her and Jinta.

Shinji took in the scene in less than a blink of an eye. In the next moment, Kensei sliced the blob draining and suffocating Karin, while Mashiro lent Jinta and Ururu a hand and Shinji eviscerated the blobs surrounding Ichigo and Yuzu. The little pieces of gelatin wobbled uncertainly before steadying, grouping up and advancing towards them.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kensei mumbled, Karin cradled protectively in the crook of an arm.

Shinji raised his zanpakuto in readiness for the second round when a strange wave of pressure pulsed through the room, originating from further in the shop. All of the gelatinous bits shivered before falling to the floor and splashing into puddles. Kisuke stumbled in view a few moments later, looking worse for the wear with pale skin, soaked clothes, and hat askew. He looked a little dizzy, probably from getting some reiryoku eaten, but he was still able to survey the dead blobs – were they even alive in the first place? – with assessing eyes. "Crisis over," he pronounced, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Shinji felt as if a chill had settled in his heart and soul. "Sorry?" he said softly. "Sorry?" he repeated a little louder as he surveyed the room. Ichigo and Yuzu had immediately plastered themselves at Kensei's side while Kensei softly calmed them and held Karin, a sickly white and almost unconscious, close to raise her core temperature. Ururu was still stuck in zombie-mode, eyes wide but completely lifeless as she stood in front of a cowering Jinta. It seemed Mashiro couldn't get close, and she hovered uncertainly nearby, torn between trying to get through to the two children and joining the protective huddle with the Kurosakis. " _Sorry_ doesn't even get close ta cuttin' it!"

Kisuke blinked slowly, like he was having troubles getting his head around what Shinji said. "Well, what else do you want me to say?"

Shinji gritted his teeth and had to remind himself that Kisuke could be slow on these things, sometimes, and that doling out serious damage to his person would be counter-productive in the long run. "Why did that even happen in the first place? Ya should've had safeties ta keep the dangerous stuff _away from the children_ , at least!"

Kisuke grimaced. "I do, and they work for most of the accidents that happen in the lab, but—"

" _Most?_ " Shinji growled, so angry he could hear faint growling from his Hollow in the back of his mind. He was sure his eyes were flashing gold, by the faint alarm in Kisuke's eyes.

While Shinji had to take a deep breath to shove his Hollow back down again, Mashiro spoke up. "Okay, nope. No, no, no." She'd evidently given up on Ururu and Jinta and was crouching by the Kurosakis, one arm each around Ichigo and Yuzu. "We're stealing them and taking them home. You can't have them back."

"Wait, what?" Yuzu said, confused but not apprehensive. Ichigo was almost as pale as Karin and looked to be nonresponsive, seeming to be in shock from almost watching another family member get hurt and almost killed. (Because reiryoku depletion, while rare, could be fatal depending on how severe it was.)

"Hachi can heal you up in a jiffy," Kensei said soothingly to Karin before glaring daggers at Kisuke. "I'm heading home. I'll knock your teeth in later." He vanished in a flurry of shunpo.

Ichigo let out a cry as Karin vanished from sight just before Mashiro scooped up him and his sister. "You'll be with Karin-chan again soon," she cooed before glowering at Kisuke and saying, "Nope, bad Kagakusha-san," and disappearing to follow Kensei.

Before Shinji could say another word, Kisuke interjected, a little reluctantly, "Are you going to take them, too?" He gestured at Jinta, who seemed to have calmed a bit, and Ururu, who had a little life in her eyes.

"What? No, I'm staying here!" Jinta interrupted loudly, even though his hands were still shaking. "I ain't going with you weirdos, and I ain't leaving Ururu 'cause she needs to stay here for medicine, an' I can handle the s-scary stuff better than those three!"

Well, that was fine, because Shinji wasn't fond enough of these two to bring them home, and he was pretty sure the others wouldn't have been terribly happy to take them in, given a number of violent personality clashes. Still, he wouldn't just abandon them to Kisuke's idiocy without at least a little support. "Ya'd damn well better clean up this mess ya made, then," Shinji hissed, making it clear he was referring to the traumatized children rather than the physical mess with a pointed jerk of his head. "We can discuss housin' arrangements _later_ , once ya've gotten your shit together." Then he, too, disappeared, returning as fast as he could back to the warehouse.

Unbeknownst to him, once Kisuke had comforted the remaining two children, cleaned up his visible mess, and reset the wards around his lab to their usual strength, he flipped open his fan to hide his inappropriate smirk. "Mission accomplished." Now, all he had to do was explain all this to Tessai…

* * *

Lisa carefully traced the lines of the model's body with her eyes, trying her best to focus on the curves of skin and the skimpy style of the swimsuit and _not_ on how three of her friends were staking out the Shoten or how much she wanted to join them. She'd already caved and visited the little hideout a handful of times, just to ascertain their well-being.

The Kurosakis were fine. Sad, yes, but they'd get over it in time. The kids were _fi_ —

"HACHI!" Kensei roared, materializing on the warehouse floor with all the subtlety of a rampaging Hollow and flaring his reiatsu as a wild signal. "GET YOUR ASS UP HERE NOW! KARIN'S IN TROUBLE!" Lisa belatedly noticed that Karin was nestled in Kensei's arms, unmoving and pale. Her reiatsu signature was worryingly weak, even for a Human.

Lisa dropped her magazine and hurried over to where Kensei had sat, curled around Karin. The Human child looked terribly small and fragile in Kensei's muscular arms. "Kensei, what in the world—"

"Get a blanket," Kensei ordered lowly as Hachi emerged from the basement, looking slightly frantic. Lisa had so many questions, but she knew well enough that now wasn't the time for answers. She flashed into her room, ripped all of the bedsheets from her mattress with shaking hands, and flashed back to Kensei in time to see Hachi running a quick diagnostic kido. Lisa wrapped Karin as tightly as she could in the sheets and scarcely withdrew her hands before one of Hachi's cubical healing fields slammed down around Karin. Mashiro joined the group a moment later and set down Karin's frantic siblings. Lisa had to hold them back from running face-first into the field and disrupting it.

Then, she leveled Kensei with her most fearsome glare. "What. Happened," Lisa bit out. Karin was injured to the point of unconsciousness, 'upset' didn't even begin to describe Ichigo and Yuzu, and all three of them had been unceremoniously hauled to the Vizards' home after they'd specifically decided never to interact with them again. Love, Rose, and Hiyori would be in for one hell of a surprise when they returned to the warehouse, she thought idly.

"I'm gonna murder Urahara-san," Kensei snarled at the same time as Shinji's voice cut in, "Kisuke's an imbecile." The leader of the Vizards sauntered up to the huddle, deceptively relaxed in the way he was when he really wanted to stab something. In a low voice, Shinji described how one of Urahara's experiments had run amok, nearly killing Karin in mere moments with the other children overwhelmed and not far behind. Lisa was beginning to sympathize with Kensei's murderous rage.

"Will Karin-nee be okay?" Yuzu asked tremulously, looking up at Hachi with teary eyes.

"Karin-chan will be fine," Hachi assured softly. "Her reiryoku, her spiritual energy, has been badly drained, but I am restoring her as we speak."

Yuzu started crying softly. "Thank goodness… thank you…" she whispered hoarsely. Ichigo sat perfectly still, staring at Karin as if he thought she'd vanish the moment he took his eyes off of her, but some of the tension in his shoulders vanished following Hachi's pronouncement.

"We're keeping them," Mashiro said firmly, her expression solemn, for once.

None of the others disagreed, and Lisa didn't think Rose, Love, or Hiyori would, either. There was a physical pain in Lisa's chest, like her heart was constricting, at the sight of the Kurosakis so upset and hurt and scared, and the thought of returning them to Urahara's care left her feeling angry and nauseous. In that moment, all of their earlier concerns about Aizen and properly raising Human children seemed small in the face of the fire in her gut. The Vizards had survived the Hollowfication and every single obstacle in their way since with cunning and determination, and they could damn well raise some children in the same way.

Karin stirred within Hachi's kido. Lisa wasn't normally one for poetic language, but at that moment, it felt as though she was truly warm for the first time in decades, with a promise of a hopeful future.

* * *

The strangling fear clogging Ichigo's throat and chest started dissipating as he saw his little sister shift. It was a little hard to tell through the yellow kido, but it looked like Karin's color was healthier, too. Hachi's healing kido was really amazing. Karin would be okay.

No thanks to Ichigo, though.

Ichigo swallowed hard, his muscles protesting every step of the way. His stomach churned as he remembered how he'd failed to stop Karin from getting hurt. In some ways, it was worse than waking up underneath his dead parents, because this time, he was completely aware of what happened – how goo monsters had emerged from Urahara-san's lab, how he'd been caught completely wrong-footed, how his techniques with the unwieldy broom he'd grabbed in a panic weren't fast enough to keep a monster from slipping through and grabbing Karin, how his heart had stopped when he'd heard her scream and thought she was dying.

It was _his_ fault Karin was hurt, because he wasn't strong enough. He was supposed to protect them, the last of his small family; even his _name_ spelled out his role. And he'd failed in his job. He'd failed to protect Karin. He was supposed to be getting stronger, and he'd been working hard, but it wasn't enough if he couldn't even protect his sisters from _goo monsters_.

What if it was never enough? If he struggled and strained and worked his ass off to become strong, and he _still_ wasn't able to keep his sisters safe? If his sisters _died_ becau—

A bony hand fisted in the back of Ichigo's shirt and hauled him onto an equally bony shoulder. The world flew by at a dizzying speed and all of a sudden, he was being set on a crumbling concrete platform, a couple stories above his sisters and in a distant corner of the building (warehouse? He hadn't exactly been paying attention when Mashiro had brought him inside).

Ichigo frantically looked for a way back down to his sisters without breaking his legs or his neck, and when he couldn't find one, he whirled around to throw an agitated glare at Shinji, who stared back with an unimpressed frown. "What are you doing?" Ichigo hissed. "I need to be there for when Karin wakes up! I can't—"

"Can't what? Step away from yer sisters for two seconds? Trust that we can care for them? Worry about yourself a little?" Shinji said, raising an eyebrow.

"They need me! Karin was hurt, and Yuzu's upset, and I need to be there and be strong for them!" Ichigo snarled, stealing a glance at the group huddled on the floor.

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Ya sure you're talkin' about them? 'Cause it sounds more like yer talkin' about yourself."

"I— what? I'm fine!" Ichigo snapped.

"Prove it, then. Hold out your hands and keep 'em steady," Shinji challenged.

Never one to back down, Ichigo thrust his hands out, palms up. They were visibly trembling. And no matter how Ichigo strained his muscles and focused, he couldn't get them to stop shaking, or for his legs to stop feeling wobbly or for his breath to stop feeling tight in his chest. Ichigo scowled fiercely and glared at his hands as if they'd personally offended him.

"Easy, kiddo," Shinji said, dropping a hand on Ichigo's head. "Sit down."

It was almost embarrassing how easily Ichigo's legs folded underneath him. And, to his mortification, his eyes started welling up with tears.

Shinji sat down next to him and slipped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. "Breathe, Ichigo. It's okay. They're alive. Let it go."

Ichigo crumbled into the man's side, shuddering. Despite Ichigo's desire to handle it all himself and the fact that Shinji and his friends had dropped off the face of the planet without warning for weeks, Ichigo found himself unable to keep his mouth shut. "I can't— I… I couldn't protect Karin. Just like Kaa-san and Tou-san. I'm supposed to be strong and protect them, but – but I couldn't do either! I was worthless… and I can't even keep it together for them now," Ichigo finished with a whisper, no longer able to ignore the mountain that had dropped onto his shoulders, the crushing weight of failure.

Shinji squeezed Ichigo comfortingly. "Listen closely, Ichigo. Karin got hurt. Maybe ya could've stopped it, maybe not. But ya know what? Yer not layin' down there next ta Karin, and neither is Yuzu. Ya hear me? _Ya protected Yuzu_. It was your first real combat situation, ya were ambushed by things that shouldn't have even gotten near ya, and ya had a crappy weapon. And ya were still able ta keep one o' your sisters safe. I'd hardly call that worthless, or weak. And knowin' ya, you'll get even stronger, so the next time somethin' happens, you'll be able ta kill all the monsters with your hands tied behind your back."

Ichigo shivered. "I still should've been strong enough now."

"Coulda, woulda, shoulda – it's all in the past now, and everythin' turned out okay in the end. Ya keep dwellin' on it, and you'll lose sight o' what ya _will_ do," Shinji advised.

Ichigo let out a shaky breath. To his surprise, it didn't feel as strained as earlier. "I still should've been able to be strong for Yuzu."

"You're just a kid. If ya weren't outwardly affected by what just happened, I'd be worried," Shinji snorted. "It's a part o' growin' up – as your shoulders get stronger, so does your heart."

Ichigo harshly exhaled. "I – okay, I think I get it. I'll definitely get stronger in the future, as I grow up. So I just gotta grow up faster," he concluded.

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Not what I was gettin' at. It's okay ta not be as strong as ya want ta be right now, so long as ya grow stronger the right way. Cuttin' corners ta get there is dangerous, like buildin' a house on a weak foundation."

"I can handle it," Ichigo insisted stubbornly.

Shinji hummed. "That's up ta ya ta determine. Just make sure ya don't bite off more'n ya can chew, 'cause that's bad, too."

"I got it," Ichigo said, a little annoyed. "Can I go back to my sisters now?"

"Alright, ya impatient brat," Shinji grumbled before standing up and theatrically cracking his back. "C'mon."

Ichigo had already scrambled to his feet. Shinji picked him up – Ichigo was really tired of being hauled around all the time – and jumped down to ground level. Once Ichigo had been set down, still some distance from the huddle around Karin, he glanced away from Shinji. "…Thanks," he muttered.

"You're welcome, kid," Shinji replied as they walked back to the others.

"How'd you know what I was thinking anyway?" Ichigo asked, because Shinji seemed uncannily good at it.

"It was written all over your face," Shinji deadpanned.

Ichigo scowled, because that wasn't helpful. But then they made it back to the others, and he forgot all about complaining, because Yuzu was giving him a watery smile, and Karin weakly blinked at him from within Hachi's kido. He gave Yuzu a crushing hug, and he knew everything would be okay.

* * *

" _As your shoulders get stronger, so does your heart / And let it not harden, lest it break apart._ " It was an old mantra of his mother's, one of many poetic scraps passed through the Hirako family. Shinji wasn't quite sure why it had slipped out after decades of being forgotten, though it may have had something to do with him thinking about his family, and family in general, much more often the past year.

Seeing everyone huddled around Hachi's healing barrier, Shinji had to admit that his subconscious was onto something with the repeated musings about family.

Shinji had absolute faith in Hachi's healing abilities, especially when it came to something simple like reiryoku depletion, but a knot of tension in his chest still released when he peered over Kensei's head and saw that Karin was awake, blinking blearily. "Wha… happen…?" she slurred. "Y'zu… 'chi-nii…?"

"We're here, Karin-nee," Yuzu sniffed, giving a watery smile. "We're okay. You'll be okay, too." She squeezed Ichigo's hand tightly.

"Don't worry, Karin-kun. You're in good hands," Kensei added, shifting in place. Shinji could tell that he was also relieved to see Karin awake.

"K'n… sei?" Karin blearily looked around. "Ha… chi? You guys… y're back?"

Lisa flinched minutely, and Mashiro confirmed, "We're back, Karin-chan. And we're staying for good." Unless something horrendous and drastic happened, Shinji had to agree with Mashiro whole-heartedly.

"Why'd you… leave?" Karin said, sounding stronger and unwittingly opening a can of worms that Shinji really didn't want to unpack while she wasn't fully cognizant.

"It's… complicated," Lisa hedged, bless her. "We can discuss it when you're better."

"'m already feeling better," Karin grumbled, but she didn't protest any further as she slipped into a natural sleep, instead of unconsciousness. She looked peaceful, a far cry from the haggard look on her features earlier.

"Is she okay?" Ichigo asked, frowning worriedly.

"Yes, she's just asleep. I've done all I can; now she just needs some rest. She'll feel fine when she wakes up," Hachi said, letting his healing barrier fade now that it was unneeded.

"That's good. I'm so glad Karin-nee will be okay…" Yuzu breathed, wiping her tears messily.

Ichigo looked relieved at the news, but then he scowled and said, "Karin's right, why _did_ you guys vanish?"

Shinji grimaced. "Ah, let's discuss that once Karin-chan's woken up, shall we?" Because the upcoming conversation would absolutely be uncomfortable and emotionally charged and terribly important, and Shinji only wanted to do it once.

Ichigo grumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, but relented. "Fine. Is there anywhere in this place Karin could rest comfortably?"

* * *

"What the fuck," Hiyori said when she returned home from grocery shopping to find that the children she and the others had been ripping their hearts out to stay away from were sequestered in a corner of the main room in the warehouse, nestled in a pile of sheets, blankets, and pillows and hovered over by Hachi and Lisa. Shinji, Kensei, and Mashiro weren't too far away. "What the _actual fuck_."

"Language," Shinji chided, flashing toward the entrance to greet her. He was spared a kick to the face only because Hiyori was laden with groceries. "We've got young, impressionable guests."

"I'll say whatever the fuck I want! What the fuck are they doing here? I thought we had an agreement about this!" Hiyori hissed, furious that all the misery of the past few weeks suddenly meant not a goddamned thing.

"C'mon, let's go put that stuff away before it goes bad," Shinji said, gesturing towards the kitchen. "I'll fill ya in…"

* * *

"I-I have questions," Rose said when he and Love made it back home from their jobs to find the Kurosaki children conspicuously present in the warehouse.

"So many questions," Love added, staring perhaps a tad bit longer than necessary at the conglomeration in the corner.

"I got this!" Mashiro announced, abruptly appearing behind the two men, grabbing their arms, and dragging them off toward the steps to the underground training room. "It's all Kagakusha-san's fault, but we're gonna adopt them, and you're not allowed to say no."

"I'm so confused," Rose admitted as he and Love were towed away for their debriefing.

* * *

Wherever Karin was, it sure was nice and warm. Soft, too. She could feel Yuzu and Ichigo's reiatsu signatures close. And they weren't flaring or anything – they felt calm, actually – so they were safe. She vaguely remembered being attacked by blob monsters and seeing Kensei-san and Hachi-san, but the recollections were fuzzy.

Karin blinked open her eyes to a stunning view of an old concrete ceiling, broken and cracked in some places. When she tried to sit up, she found that she was wrapped tightly in blankets and sheets and couldn't budge more than a few inches in any direction. Swaddled like a – a baby! This was humiliating. She was just about to start yelling for someone to get her out of this when Yuzu popped into her field of vision, her expression brightening like the sun.

"Karin-nee! You're awake!" she cried, pouncing on top of Karin and wrapping her arms awkwardly around the bundle of blankets. "How are you feeling?"

Karin wheezed a little. "I'm fine, Yuzu! Help me out of this, will you?" But Yuzu was stuck on her like a barnacle. Karin resigned herself to going nowhere soon when Ichigo also appeared, hesitated out of some stupid manly allergy to showing affection or something, then flopped on top of Yuzu, further pinning Karin in place.

"Can't… breathe… you idiots…" Karin wheezed, squirming. Yuzu and Ichigo finally let go, and the roughhousing had loosened the sheets enough that Karin could at least extract her arms.

(And yeah, having her siblings piled on top of her, openly and happily affectionate for once, at least in Ichigo's case, was super nice, but she didn't like being so constricted. Plus, she didn't want to seem too clingy or upset about what happened; she could carry her burdens by herself, like Ichigo!)

"Hey, look who's awake," a familiar voice said fondly – it was Love! He was leaning over the three of them, his mouth quirked in a small grin. "Glad to see you're feeling better, kiddo."

"Uh, yeah," Karin said intelligently. She'd last seen Love at Ichigo's birthday party almost a month ago, which was _forever_ ago! Where had he been? Where had his friends been? All the others were scattered nearby, watching the proceedings closely. Mashiro was visibly vibrating in excitement.

As Karin met their eyes, all other the adults greeted her, their voices overlapping to the point that while she couldn't make out what each said individually, but she knew that they were all happy to see her.

Karin hunched back a little, overwhelmed by the strangeness of the situation – waking up in an unfamiliar place, with no Urahara-san or Jinta or Tessai-san or Ururu-chan, with people who'd vanished without a trace for like forever.

At least Yuzu and Ichigo were with her.

"What's going on?" she hissed to them, clutching at the sheets. "Where are we?"

"Oh, you don't remember?" Yuzu asked, frowning worriedly.

"One of Urahara-san's experiments got loose and attacked you," Ichigo said, scowling while laying a wrist on her forehead, which Karin quickly shook off. "Kensei-san, Mashiro-san, and Shinji-san saved us and brought us here, and Hachi-san healed you. I think this is their home."

Karin looked down at her hands, fisted in the sheets, as she vaguely remembered more about being captured by a blob monster and later being encased in yellow kido. "Right." She shook her head, not wanting to think about the painful, disconcerting memory of _leaking_. She distracted herself by looking around, then wrinkled her nose as she more fully took in the bare concrete space, littered with debris from broken upper floors and old furniture. "It looks like a dump."

" _Excuse you_ ," Hiyori snapped, baring her teeth. "Who just insults someone else's house like that?"

"She does have a point, though," Rose sighed dejectedly, eyeing the space with a faint hint of distaste. Karin wondered why he hadn't done anything about it, then.

"Yeah? You wanna go, Rose?" Hiyori challenged, expression belligerent and mocking.

Shinji smiled widely, displaying all his teeth like usual, and clapped his hands loudly. "You're already much more lively," he remarked. Karin wondered what he meant; Hiyori was _always_ ready to fight someone. "But discussin' our living space should be shelved for now, hmm?"

Hiyori grumbled wordlessly and looked away, while the other adults shifted uncomfortably. "What are they talking about?" Karin wondered, glancing at her siblings. Maybe they knew something.

Ichigo just shrugged uneasily. "They've been wandering in and out in groups while you were sleeping. I think they've been talking about something, but I don't know what."

"We'll get ta that," Shinji said, his tone slipping into something a little more solemn. "But there's somethin' else important ta talk about first."

"Why you left for so long?" Yuzu ventured hesitantly, biting her lip.

Shinji nodded seriously. The other adults looked uncomfortable and tense. Karin had _never_ seen them looking like this before – they were always lighthearted and unconcerned. She unconsciously straightened, her whole focus on the adults. Forget the attack of the blobs and the house-dump; this was more important.

If Karin didn't know any better, Shinji looked almost nervous (but this was Shinji and that was impossible) as he took a deep breath and began, "It's a long story. Difficult ta explain. Shameful, too. But I guess a good place ta start would be that we used ta be Shinigami."

Yuzu's mouth fell open in a neat 'o'. "You – you used to be like that guy we saw one time, jumping around in those black robes and wielding a sword and killing Hollows?"

A small, sardonic smile touched Shinji's lips. "Not quite like him. We're stronger, so we had different duties. But yeah, we looked all spiffy an' sharp in uniform."

Ichigo's brow furrowed. "What happened, then? Did you retire?"

Several of the adults noticeably reacted. Lisa snorted, "If only."

Shinji continued. "Ya know that Shinigami ain't perfect. They don't get Hollows before they eat someone, or the Hollow eats them first. Some of 'em – some of 'em go bad. Or maybe they were already bad in the first place. There are systems in place ta prevent people from goin' nuts and disruptin' the balance o' life and death, and catchin' the people who have gone rogue. But… they don't always work."

Karin's immediate thought was that the eight adults before her had done something wrong or bad, but she viciously squashed it. Something had gone wrong, or maybe the system itself was broken, because there was no way that her adult friends – caring and fun and nice – had done something evil. "What happened?" she asked quietly.

Shinji's fists clenched. "One o' these evil people did somethin' terrible ta us and framed Kisuke for it. His powers let him control what people see, so he's gotten away with all kinds o' bulls- nonsense. But the people in charge o' the Shinigami thought we were a lost cause and that Kisuke's a criminal so…" Shinji shrugged. "We've been livin' here ever since."

Ichigo's eyes blazed as he said, "What did he do? Who is he? I'll kick his ass!"

Shinji shook his head sharply, and his reiatsu spiked just enough to be momentarily uncomfortable. "No way. He'd kill ya in an instant. It's not your fight or concern, anyway. The point is—"

All of a sudden, Hiyori rushed forward and knocked Shinji from his perch. "Roundabout idiot, quit stalling!" She glared at Karin and her siblings defiantly. "We're monsters," she snarled, her reiatsu flaring pink around her as white shards of _something_ started appearing and gluing together on one side of her head. "Some fucked-up whackjob with who-knows-what lunacy in his skull decided we'd make good subjects for an experiment and fucked up our souls and the fucking _government_ decided to terminate us without so much as a proper investigation—"

"Hiyori, that's too much!" Kensei protested. The other adults seemed shocked, too.

A white mass was taking shape on Hiyori's head with menacing, predatory features. Hiyori barreled forward, "—and we ran with our tails between our legs and hid so we wouldn't be killed and we're all waiting for the right time for some fucking payback!" she bellowed, her eyes flashing. The fully-defined mask perched on the side of her head was one of the scariest things Karin had ever seen, and her reiatsu took on a faintly sinister edge.

Yuzu cowered back against Karin, intimidated. Karin was trembling all over and breathing in short gasps. But it was Ichigo, white as a sheet, who breathed out, "Hollow."

"That's enough, Hiyori!" Shinji barked so sharply Karin jumped. "Put the damn mask away!"

Hiyori snorted bitterly and flicked her hand carelessly, and the mask dissolved into nothing, like it had never existed. "I didn't even put it on," she grouched. "Whatever. I'm out."

Before she could run off, Shinji grabbed her by the back of her jacket and roughly set her on a concrete slab near Kensei and Lisa. "Stay right here," he growled.

"Don't tell me what to do—!"

Hiyori and Shinji were bickering again, but Karin didn't hear a single word. Her mind felt fuzzy and blank, like static from the TV. She barely noticed Yuzu sniffling next to her, having been scared out of her wits. Karin was struggling to grasp all the information that had just been unceremoniously dumped on her. Experiments? Monsters? Evil people? It was the stuff of stories and seemed impossible in her small world – what little was left of it after Tou-chan and Kaa-chan died. Except that these adults had been living and breathing it for who knows how long.

It was scary. It was _so_ scary. It would have been easier to grasp if Hiyori hadn't lost her temper and dumped everything at once and summoned her terrifying power – the same type of power that had ripped her family apart.

But Karin loved them anyway, monster or no monster. They were her friends and maybe even the closest thing she had to family, aside from Yuzu and Ichigo.

"I'm deeply sorry about Hiyori," Rose said softly. He'd approached the children while Karin was lost in thought, and she jumped because she hadn't noticed him. She noted that Shinji and Hiyori were still bickering, but it was an unfriendly fight, unlike what Karin had seen from them before. The other adults looked like they didn't know what to do. And Rose had a look on his face she couldn't really define. He almost seemed scared, except there was no way he could be, because he was a super-strong ex-Shinigami with a frightening power and they were just a bunch of kids. "We shouldn't— it shouldn't have been presented to you like that."

"Huh?" Yuzu said, still huddling against Karin.

"Our Hollow powers," Rose said delicately. "The fact that there are monsters living inside us. It's scary even for us, let alone Human children."

"That's why you vanished, isn't it?" Ichigo said. Karin blinked in surprise; she'd completely forgotten why they'd been discussing this topic in the first place.

Rose nodded slowly. "We felt… because of our inner Hollows and history… that our presence would do more harm than good," he said delicately.

"You were scared," Ichigo clarified confidently. "Because you thought you'd hurt us, or maybe this other guy would hurt us, and us hurting because of you would hurt you, too. Right?"

Rose tilted his head, staring at Ichigo with a little surprise. "…I suppose that could be accurate, though it's a little more complex than that." Karin's head hurt from trying to figure out her brother's convoluted logic, then she gave up. She could ask her brother what he meant later.

Ichigo scowled. "But you guys have always said that being scared doesn't help anything!"

"It doesn't," Lisa interjected. "But fears can grow large enough, for long enough, that ignoring or removing them can be very difficult… or even impossible."

"Well, we're not going anywhere, so there," Yuzu declared. "You can tell your fear to stuff it."

"You trust us? Even though we've got monsters in us?" Love asked.

"So? Everybody's got a monster under their skin," Ichigo replied. "People pick on me because of my hair, or they think I look like a weakling. I've seen older boys harass girls, strong people picking on weak. Tou-san and Kaa-san tried to keep me from seeing some of the people coming to the clinic after being beat up for money or status or whatever. Just because _your_ monsters are more literal doesn't automatically make you bad. I mean, you have them under control, right?"

"Well, yeah, but how do you know we're not the type of people to let their monsters run free?" Kensei challenged.

Karin scowled. "That's a dumb question. You're nice to us. No, that's not the right word… you _care_ about us, and we're just a bunch of weird, lame kids. If you let your monsters run free, we wouldn't even be here in your home."

The other adults seemed too choked up to really respond to that. Maybe it had finally gotten through their thick skulls that Karin, Yuzu, and Ichigo liked and trusted them, even though they were part-Hollow or whatever.

"Okay, first off, you're not weird or lame," Mashiro finally said. "Second, who's been picking on Berry-tan, because I can totally beat them up."

"We've discussed this, Mashiro. No beatin' up random Humans," Shinji said tiredly. Apparently, his conflict with Hiyori had reached a conclusion. Hiyori was standing a ways off, shoulders hunched and defensive.

Karin thought of how Hiyori had exploded earlier, dumping all of the bad things about them and their past in one rushed mess. "You're scared too, aren't you, Hiyori-san?" Karin said.

Hiyori looked like she wanted to start yelling, but she just settled on a sneer and a glare. "It's not a joke."

"Of course it's not!" Ichigo growled. "But we're not leaving, and if you run away again we'll chase you down for being stupid! So face it head on, and we'll overcome it together!"

Shinji shook his head, a ghost of a grin on his lips. "See, this is why we came back the first time," he murmured.

"What?" Yuzu asked, looking confused. She may not have heard; Karin had barely caught what Shinji said herself, and she didn't understand it, anyway. Why were adults so confusing and complicated?

"Never mind, it's not important. So, we got that taken care of. That… was just the first thing we wanted ta talk ta ya about," Shinji said, somewhat dryly.

"Is it going to be as hard as the first thing? Because feelings are tiring," Yuzu said, drooping against Karin's side. Karin could relate; she'd just woken up from a long nap not long ago and now all she wanted to do was go back to sleep again.

"Well, it's… maybe," Shinji admitted, glancing at the rest of his group. "But this one, we'll just say our piece, and ya can sleep on it and answer later."

"Okay. What is it?" Yuzu asked.

"So. We've seen what it's like for you to live with Urahara-san," Kensei began. "And given what happened earlier, we're all _extremely_ unimpressed."

"Worried, too," Mashiro admitted.

"So we all talked it over and decided, well… given the circumstances and our resources, it would be feasible for us to take you in," Lisa said.

Karin stiffened, and she saw Ichigo straightening out of the corner of her eye. Was this group of adults saying what she thought they were saying?

"Basically, we're offering to adopt you," Rose confirmed, smiling warmly.

"But, y'know, it's a big decision, so take your time thinking about it," Love said. "We'll get some food for you and let you rest in the meantime."

Karin glanced at her siblings. By the looks on their faces, they were thinking the same thing she was. She couldn't help grinning broadly. Even _Ichigo_ was smiling a little, and he hardly smiled anymore.

"You know, we don't need to think about it. Ever since Tou-san and Kaa-san died, you guys have been the ones to help us and care about us the most. Urahara-san is great, but you've been better. So… we'd love to come live with you," Ichigo said.

"Yeah!" Yuzu agreed, shaking from excitement. She was even tearing up happily. "You guys are the best!"

Karin was completely unsurprised when she and her siblings were swarmed with equally excited and touched adults and squashed in a giant embrace. She laughed happily and felt the most at peace ever since her parents had died. She felt like she'd finally found a home.

* * *

A/N:

*Kagakusha means 'scientist' in Japanese. Mashiro's nickname for Urahara is essentially Mr. Scientist, lol.

Chapter 3 is finally here! Hope you enjoyed! Also, Happy Holidays, and Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it!

The Vizards were NOT WANTING TO COOPERATE WITH THE PLOT DAMMIT so I had to take an angsty plot detour that took up most of the chapter to get everything back on track. They were supposed to just straight-up adopt the kids but nooooo… I had so much trouble figuring out how to get things back on track and I couldn't get less extreme options to work, so… Urahara! Put the little ones in mortal peril! …and it actually worked.

Also, I really wish I could internalize Shinji's wisdom as easily as Ichigo does. "Balance is the key," Pearl sings, sashaying over from Steven Universe, and everyone is confused. I have to stop writing late at night, especially the motivational speeches.

What is Shinji's accent. There are no rules. Why can't you just stick with 'you're' or 'yer' and not use them both _in one sentence_ dammit _why does your authentic voice sound so inconsistent_

Note to self: figure out how to tell the Kurosakis that the Vizards are called Vizards, because calling them 'the adults' and 'the group' is getting damn awkward.


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